Beijing  - Asian and European leaders plan to call for new goals to fight climate change up to 2012 to be agreed by the end of next year, according to a draft summit statement seen Friday.

"Leaders welcomed the substantial progress made at the climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007," said the draft "chair's statement" from the biannual Asia-Europe Meeting, which opened Friday.

"They confirmed their commitment to securing an ambitious, effective and comprehensive agreed outcome now, up to and beyond 2012, by the end of 2009 on the basis of the Bali road map," said the draft, which is scheduled to be issued on Saturday at the close of the summit.

Beijing, Oct 24 : Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has said that his country’s President Asif Ali Zardari’s statement describing the Kashmiri fighters as “terrorists” was not exactly what he meant, as the definition of terrorism was not satisfactorily resolved yet.

Beijing - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged greater transparency and firmer controls over financial markets as part a solution to the global financial turmoil.

Merkel made a four-point proposal to Asian and European leaders discussing the financial crisis in Beijing, according to an advance copy of her speech.

She listed greater transparency in financial markets as the highest priority for supporting a global recovery.

Second on the list of proposals to 45 leaders at the biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was the need for a new structure of incentives.

Beijing - The prime ministers of China and Japan on Friday pledged to cooperate in maintaining stability in the face of the global financial crisis.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso held talks amid a series of bilateral meetings before a summit of Asian and European leaders in Beijing on Friday and Saturday.

Wen told Aso that the two nations should have "more policy dialogue and coordination to maintain stability in the financial markets," the Chinese foreign ministry reported.

Cooperation between China and Japan in the face of the international financial crisis was "vital for the stability of Asia," the ministry quoted Wen as saying.

Taipei - Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party is to stage an anti-China protest on Saturday, to be followed by a series of demonstrations when Chinese top envoy Chen Yunlin visits the island next month, the party leader said Friday.

"We will start a series of events, including a large-scale march in Taipei on Saturday, to make our voices known to Chen Yunlin during his Taiwan visit that we do not want military threats, tainted food, and suppression of our sovereignty from China," said DPP chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen.

Beijing - Germany's support after the devastating Sichuan earthquake in March helped smooth German-Chinese relations after past upsets, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Friday.

Germany was the European country "which helped China most after this catastrophe," Hu told Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is in Beijing to participate in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit on Friday and Saturday.

"This is a clear sign of friendship from the German government to the Chinese people," he added.

Merkel vowed closer cooperation with China in view of the global economic crisis. "We are ready to work even closer with China, especially in times of economic difficulties," the conservative chancellor said.