A senior Chinese leader on Friday called for a "new era of cooperation" between Europe and Asia amid uncertainty surrounding global economic recovery.

While addressing the opening ceremony of the fourth 2011 Euro-Asia Economic Forum in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said cooperation between Euro-Asia nations must "keep pace with the times" and be comprehensive in nature.

Over the last six years, the Euro-Asia Economic Forum has become a mature platform for efficient communication and mutual cooperation between Euro-Asia nations, Li said.

Li said the forum has played a vital role in helping these countries establish closer ties, which have allowed them to cope with economic turmoil and strive for common development and prosperity.

In order to confront the challenges created by an increasingly complex global economic situation, nations and enterprises around the world should bolster their cooperation and tackle difficulties together, Li said.

China will make concrete efforts to realize the goal of common development and prosperity in the Euro-Asia region as it assumes the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in mid-June, Li said.

Li cited the tremendous economic progress China has made and the problems it has faced since introducing its policies of reform and opening-up in the late 1970s.

A new round of planning for the development of west China will be implemented in accordance with China's 12th Five-Year Plan, Li said, indicating that the area will become more open for Euro-Asian trade in the future.

The stable economic growth of China will bring new opportunities for expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between Euro-Asia countries, Li said.

More than 900 officials, entrepreneurs, academics and experts from Europe and Asia attended Friday's opening session of the two-day forum. The forum's hosts include the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretariat, the SCO Business Council, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the secretariat of the Eurasian Economic Community and the Shaanxi provincial government, as well as a series of Chinese ministries and central commissions.

Attendees exchanged views on regional economic cooperation and the promotion of common development and prosperity during the forum's opening session.

The biennial Euro-Asia Economic Forum was first launched in Xi'an in 2005; the city was named as a permanent venue for the forum in April 2007.