MADRID, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged countries here on Monday to uphold fairness, justice, mutual respect and win-win cooperation in practising multilateralism.

Speaking at the 14th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Madrid, Wang stressed that mutual respect and treating each other as equals is an important spirit of ASEM.

"We should abandon ideological prejudice and the old Cold War mentality, respect other countries' development path suited to their own national conditions, and not impose one's own values on others," he noted.

Mutually beneficial cooperation and common development are the aspirations of Asian and European countries, said the Chinese diplomat, who called for efforts to synergize such initiatives as the Belt and Road, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Eurasian interconnection strategy, and the Master Plan on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Connectivity.

China will host the 2nd United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference next year. According to the foreign minister, China hopes to seize the opportunity to inject new impetus and make new contributions to the connectivity and common development of Asia, Europe and the world at large.

Top diplomats from dozens of Asian and European countries gathered here on Monday to exchange ideas on strengthening "effective multilateralism" amid mounting global challenges.

Established in 1996, ASEM is a forum for dialogue and cooperation between the two continents.