"The world is facing new and unprecedented challenges, as shown by the current economic turmoil but also long-term issues, and Finland wants to use ASEM to address these challenges, including in particular the environment," Antti Kuosmanen, ambassador of Finland told China Daily, ahead of the expected visit of President Tarja Halonen at the ongoing Asia-Europe Meeting.

As head of the Finnish delegation, visiting President Halonen met President Hu Jintao yesterday for bilateral discussions on Sino-Finnish relations and international issues.

Finland attaches great importance to the ASEM process in all its aspects, including the political, economic and people-to-people dimensions, he said.