China hoped and believed that the upcoming meetings of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would shore up East Asian countries' confidence in resisting financial crisis, said Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

The meetings will be held in Pattaya of Thailand from April 10 to 12,including the 12th summit between the ASEAN and China(10+1), the 12th summit between the ASEAN and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea(ROK)(10+3), the 4th East Asia Summit, and the breakfast meeting of leaders from China, Japan, and the ROK.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the ASEAN related meetings, where he will give a positive evaluation on the new progress made under the framework of the ASEAN+1 and ASEAN+3, especially in the financial sector.

He will elaborate on China's opinions on the recent East Asia situation and East Asian cooperation and put forward a couple of proposals on enhancing the ASEAN+1 and ASEAN+3 cooperation, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a regular news briefing.

China and the ASEAN have already established a strategic partnership aiming at peace and prosperity and have defined 11 major cooperative fields such as agriculture, information and communication, transportation, tourism and human resources exploitation, said Qin.

The two sides also maintained good communication and coordination in regional and international affairs.

Under the current situation, China and the ASEAN are confronted with common challenges, said Qin, adding China is willing to work with the ASEAN to tide over the financial crisis, and strengthen cooperation in the sectors such as economy and trade as well as finance.

He also urged the two sides to push forward the China-ASEAN relations and the regional cooperation, in a bid to create a regional environment with peace, stability and mutual benefit.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2009)