Twenty-nine years ago today, on March 1, 1996 (January 12, 1996 lunar calendar), the first Asia-Europe Meeting opened. Today's world is increasingly becoming multi-polar, and has now formed three powerful political and economic regions: North America, Europe and East Asia. However, the relationship between Asia and Europe is relatively weak. To strengthen bilateral cooperation, the first Asia-Europe Meeting was held in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, from March 1 to 2, 1996. The leaders of Thailand, China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the European Union Commission attended the meeting. The other four European Union countries Denmark, Greece, Spain and Sweden sent their foreign ministers. The meeting adopted the "President's Statement", which emphasized that the Asian and European countries will promote cooperation in economic and other fields while strengthening political dialogue in the future. The statement stressed that countries should conduct political dialogue on the basis of mutual respect, equality and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The leaders also decided to strengthen academic exchanges, and recognized the importance of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of destruction, and reaffirmed that the Asian and European countries will strengthen cooperation in these areas.