2011 Euro-Asia Economic Forum to be held in Xi'an

The fourth Euro-Asia Economic Forum will be held in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, from Sept. 22 to 24, a foreign ministry spokesperson said here Wednesday. Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, will attend the forum and address the opening ceremony, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei said at a regular news briefing. The 2011 session of the forum will run under the theme, "Innovating Euro-Asia Cooperation, Sharing Transformation Opportunity," he said. He said about 750 representatives will attend the forum, including leaders, government officials, ambassadors, entrepreneurs and academics from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries and its observing countries as well as other countries from the European-Asian region. The forum is an open and high-level platform for economic dialogues between European and Asian areas under the responsibility of the SCO, he said. China hopes that during the forum all parties will exchange views on regional economic cooperation and promote common development and prosperity, Hong said. The biennial Euro-Asia Economic Forum was launched in Xi'an in 2005, and the city was named the permanent venue for the forum in April 2007.