EUROPEAN AND Asian leaders representing nearly half the world's population concluded a two-day summit in the Chinese capital at the weekend with a call for the international community to overcome the financial crisis through enhanced co-operation, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, Political Correspondent in Beijing.

Forty-five countries and organisations were represented at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) held in Beijing, the last major international gathering before the Group of 20 (G20) world economic summit in Washington on November 15th. The G20 consists of 19 of the world's leading industrialised and developing nations as well as the EU.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the ASEM summit was "helpful" in promoting efforts to tackle the global financial crisis.

European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said all countries should unite and co-operate against the global financial crisis, but they must not ignore other global challenges such as China's climate change.

"The financial crisis is not a reason and it should not be a pretext to postpone our commitment to the fight against climate change," he said.

Chinese premier Wen Jiabao called for more regulation of the world's financial system.

"We need to draw lessons from this crisis," the premier said. "We will take a co-operative and pragmatic approach in working with other countries so as to find a solution in the financial crisis."

The summit was also an occasion for bilateral meetings. Mr Sarkozy discussed his plans to create an "economic government" for the 15-nation euro zone, which includes Ireland, with German chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday. The French president, who pronounced last week that "the ideology of the dictatorship of the market . . . is dead", appears to be at odds with US president George Bush, who said in his weekly radio address on Saturday that, as well as dealing with "short-term challenges", the G20 summit must "recommit" to the principles of free enterprise and free trade.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who is leading a trade mission to China, was the first speaker at the Saturday morning session of the ASEM and highlighted the parallel "silent crisis" of hunger in the developing world. He told the summit his Government had commissioned a report from a hunger task force, whose members included Bono and leading economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs.