The United States supports extending membership in the Financial Stability Forum(FSF) to China and other important emerging market economies.

Zhu Guangyao, China's Assistant Minister of Finance, briefed reporters after the fifth China-US Strategic Economic Dialogue(SED) concluded Friday morning.

"With the background of the global financial crisis, one important measure is to increase discourse between emerging market economies and key international financial organizations," Zhu said.

The FSF should have wider representation and its members should include not only developed nations, but also emerging market countries, he added.

According to an SED fact sheet, the FSF has played an important role in securing international agreements on regulatory measures needed to address financial weaknesses . It has also facilitated actions on many of the global stability commitments endorsed by the G20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy.

"The recently concluded G20 Summit in Washington, reached many important consensus, and the FSF is responsible for implementing these agreements," Zhu said.

The FSF was convened in April 1999 to promote international financial stability through information exchange and international cooperation in financial supervision and surveillance.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2008)