Alwahy News - EU and Asia 'must work together' on financial crisis

Jose Manuel Barroso's comments came as the leaders of 45 countries prepared to meet in Beijing at the weekend for the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Mr Barroso also said the situation was "a great opportunity for China to show a sense of responsibility".

Human rights are also expected to feature heavily in talks.

This follows several recent diplomatic incidents over the issue.

"The present gathering could not be more timely," Mr Barroso told reporters in Beijing. "We face challenges which don't respect any borders.

"No-one in Europe or Asia can seriously pretend to be immune. We are living in unprecedented times, and we need unprecedented levels of global co-ordination."

Mr Barroso said the world needed Asia - particularly China, India and Japan - to "be on board.

"It's very simple: we sink together or we swim together.

"I very much hope that China can make an important contribution to the solution to the financial crisis. It's a great opportunity for China to show a sense of responsibility."

He also said the commission believed China should be given a greater voice in international financial institutions.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said China would co-operate more closely with other countries on economics, but gave no specific details.

"We need to explore the possibilities for reform of the international financial structure so that we can make joint efforts to stabilise markets," he said.

Sensitive talks

The economy is expected to dominate that summit but Mr Barroso said it was important that it discussed "all matters, including sometimes the most sensitive ones".

Analysts have said the summit is likely to be overshadowed by the awarding of a major European Parliament human rights prize to a prominent Chinese dissident on Thursday.

Hu Jia is currently serving a three-and-a-half year jail sentence for political subversion.

China had urged the parliament not to give the Sakharov Prize to Mr Hu and said doing so was "a gross interference in China's domestic affairs".

But foreign ministry spokesman Mr Liu said he did not think it would affect the talks.

Patching up ties

The summit is German Chancellor Angela Merkel's first visit to China since she met the Dalai Lama when he visited Berlin a year ago.

China reacted angrily to the meeting, as it regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist leader, and the incident led to a cooling of relations between the countries for several months.

Mrs Merkel was greeted by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao in a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.

She toured a factory which produces Mercedes-Benz cars, telling workers they were "a very good example of German-Sino economic co-operation".

Mr Hu has also held meetings with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and Donald Tusk, Polish prime minister, among others.

As well as economics, climate change, trade, energy and food security are expected to be on the summit agenda but analysts say it is largely a talking shop and it not expected to make any major decisions.