Q: The Third ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting will be held in Beijing in late May. What's China's expectation of this meeting?

A: The Third ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting will be held in Beijing from May 24 to 25. Foreign Ministers from 25 ASEM member states and members of the EU Commission will gather in Beijing on that occasion. This is a major event in Asia-Europe cooperation process at the beginning of the new century and it is also an important diplomatic activity held by China this year. The Chinese Government attaches great importance to the Meeting and the Chinese leaders will attend the relative activities of the Meeting. We hope that the Meeting will enable exchanges of views on international and regional issues of interest to both Asia and Europe focusing on the theme of strengthening Asia-Europe Partnership in the new century, study the ways of implementing the cooperative initiatives approved by the Third ASEM Meeting in the fields of economy and trade, science and technology, environment and education, etc, and make necessary preparations for the Fourth ASEM Meeting to be held in Denmark next year. At present, preparation for the Meeting has basically been completed. We stand ready to cooperate closely and enhance consultations with the ASEM members in order to make the Meeting a complete success.