Beijing - The largest-ever gathering of Asian and European leaders opened on Friday to discuss how to respond to the global financial crisis and combat climate change.

Talks on the financial crisis are expected to be "very intense" between leaders of the 27 European Union member states and 16 Asian nations at the seventh biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing, Serge Abou, the EU's ambassador to China, told reporters earlier.

EU officials said separate "clusters" of discussions were planned on banking and financial systems, and that the EU nations hoped the meeting would promote trade talks between the two continents.

Beijing - Leaders of the "ASEAN plus three" group on Friday promised joint efforts to combat the global financial crisis and maintain regional economic stability.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao chaired the meeting of leaders of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus China, Japan and South Korea.

The 13 Asian leaders held an open discussion on "issues of common concern, especially the financial crisis and its influence on East Asia," host nation China said.

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.

Tokyo - Asia-Pacific stocks took dives Thursday amid bearish sentiment triggered by Wall Street's sharp overnight losses as well as a dismal global and regional economic outlook.

The market in the region's largest economy, Japan, also dipped as a stronger yen dimmed sales prospects among the country's export-oriented manufacturers.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 2.46 per cent to close at 8,460.98. The benchmark index recovered significant ground after losing more than 7 per cent in morning trading and hitting a five-year low.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also fell 1.97 per cent to 871.7.

Frankfurt - European shares slumped more than 2 per cent in opening trading Wednesday, picking up on a downbeat end to Wall Street and steep falls in Asia.

As renewed concerns emerged about the outlook for the global economy and profits, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 began the trading day down 2.5 per cent at 2,286 points.

The fall was mirrored across key national European markets with shares in London, Frankfurt, Paris and Zurich all sliding by more than
2 per cent.

Fresh economic concerns resulted in the oil price dropping by 3.3 per cent below 70 dollars a barrel on expectations of falling demand for energy. In July energy prices were heading towards 150 dollars a barrel.

Beijing, Oct 22: China has reportedly hailed the opening up of bilateral trade between India and Pakistan through two road routes after 60 years, saying that the two countries would work harder to promote bilateral relations.

“China is a neighbour and friend of both Pakistan and India,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang during a press briefing in Beijing here last evening.

On the occasion, Gang also said that Beijing would continue to co-operate with Pakistan in its endeavour in the civilian nuclear energy field. “I have repeated on many occasions that we have sound co-operation and relations with Pakistan. We would like to continue this co-operation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.”