Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and leaders from three other countries arrived here on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the seventh summit of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) opening on Thursday.
The Beijing Summit will be the first gathering for leaders of ASEM member states since the body's enlargement to 45 members in 2006.
As the host, China rolled out the red carpet for the guests. With the main streets decked with colorful banners, the capital also released a series of traffic control measures to ensure roads were clear during the meeting period.
So far Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen have also arrived. Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah were scheduled to arrive on Wednesday evening.
ASEM was formed in 1996 with a membership comprising the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 10 member countries, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, 27 European Union countries, the ASEAN secretary general and the European Commission president.
ASEM was established as a high-level forum between governments of Asia and Europe. It aims at creating better conditions for cooperation between the two continents through strengthening dialogue and mutual understanding.
The Beijing Summit features the theme of "vision and action, towards a win-win solution."
Source:Xinhua
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