European and Asian leaders are meeting to discuss issues ranging from trade to climate change to peace moves on the Korean peninsula.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday's meeting would send a signal that "countries are coming together here from Europe and Asia that all want rules-based global trade and are committed to multilateralism."
Both the EU and Asian economic powerhouse China are embroiled in trade disputes with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc arrives for an EU-ASEM summit in Brussels, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. EU leaders meet with their Asian counterparts Friday to discuss trade, among other issues. (AP PhotoOlivier Matthys)
The meeting brings together 30 European leaders with their counterparts from 21 Asian nations as well as top officials from the European Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Together, the group accounts for some two-thirds of the world's economic output, 55 percent of global trade and 60 percent of the world's population.
Bangladesh's Minister for Foreign Affairs Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali arrives for an EU-ASEM summit in Brussels, Friday, Oct. 19, 2018. EU leaders meet with their Asian counterparts Friday to discuss trade, among other issues. (AP PhotoOlivier Matthys)