Priorities should be identified in forging all-around economic cooperation among Central Asian countries, Russia and China, a senior Chinese official said yesterday.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said: "For Euro-Asian regional economic cooperation, we should identify key sectors, including energy, investment and tourism, and give them priority.

"After making breakthroughs in these areas, the cooperation can gradually expand to cover science, technology and culture," he said at the opening ceremony for the second Euro-Asia Economic Forum in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province.