July 22, 2009 13:55 PM

China Calls For Greater Financial Cooperation Among Asean+3

PHUKET, July 22 (Bernama) -- China has called for greater cooperation among financial institutions and regulators in Asean+3 to tackle the economic crisis.

Its Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said it was important for agencies such as central banks and financial authorities of the 10-member Asean, China, Japan and South Korea to cooperate and enhance financial stability.

"We should intensify cooperation between financial institutions, central banks and regulators," he said at the Asean+3 Foreign Ministers' Meeting held here on Wednesday.

According to him, a key mechanism was the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM), a regional pooling reserve set up by the Asean+3 to address short-term liquidity difficulties in the region.

He said the grouping should continue to promote the CMIM and finalise its agreement by the end of the year.

Asean and its three partners agreed to strengthen the regional self-help financial mechanism with a total fund of US$120 billion as agreed by Asean+3 Finance Ministers at a meeting in Bali last May.

Under the proposed sharing formula, Asean would contribute 20 percent to the pool with the rest from the three partners.

China and Japan would each contribute US$38.4 billion to the CMIM while South Korea's share is US$19.2 billion.

Asean Foreign Ministers have also welcomed China's plan to provide US$15 billion commercial credit to the grouping, including US$1.7 billion preferential loans in the next three to five years.

-- BERNAMA

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