Beijing - Major Asian economies Japan, China and India must play a full role in overcoming the global financial crisis, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Thursday.

"We need to take the lessons of the crisis for reform of the global financial system," Barroso told reporters ahead of a summit of Asian and European leaders.

"We need Asia on board," he said, adding that the participation of China, India and Japan was vital for a global solution to the crisis.

"Apart from the financial dimensions of the crisis, there are major imbalances in global trade," Barroso said.

The international community needs an "unprecedented level of global coordination" to reform financial institutions, tackle poverty and address other root causes of the crisis, he said.

The largest ever gathering of Asian and European leaders takes place on Friday and Saturday with 27 European and 16 Asian nations represented.

The seventh biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was originally planned to focus on efforts to combat climate change and promote sustainable development, but it is now dominated by the global financial turmoil.

Barroso, who later met Chinese President Hu Jintao, said the main aim of the ASEM summit was to agree principles for reshaping global financial systems, but he said climate change would not be forgotten.

"Fighting climate change remains as important as before the financial crisis," he said.

The European Union accepted the UN principle of "common but differentiated" responsibilities for developed and developing nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it believed that developing nations "need to make a substantial contribution", he said.

Many leaders of Asian and EU nations arrived in Beijing on Thursday ahead of the ASEM summit.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Finnish President Tarja Halonen were among several leaders who held bilateral meetings with Hu Jintao on Thursday.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen both held talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who will chair the ASEM summit.

In a speech at a pre-summit Asia-Europe business forum on Wednesday, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping said supervision of financial institutions and the setting up of a financial warning mechanism were "crucial" elements of global financial cooperation.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Thursday said he hoped the ASEM leaders would "attach importance to the concerns of developing countries" to improve the stability of the global economy and financial system.

This year's ASEM summit includes several new members, notably India and Pakistan, meaning the delegates represent a combined
50-60 per cent of the global population and economy.

Barroso said the opening of a China-EU School of Law in Beijing on Thursday was important for the rule of law in China and for creating better understanding between the two sides.

But his talks with Hu Jintao were overshadowed by the EU's award on Thursday of its Sakharov Prize for human rights to a Chinese dissident, despite strong opposition from China.

China had warned that giving the prize to Hu Jia, who was jailed for three and a half years for subversion in March, could "seriously damage" its relations with the European Union.

"To give the award to such a person is interference in China's judicial sovereignty, which is also against the original purpose of the award," Qin told reporters. (dpa)