The 7th AEMSummit (ASEM7) was held on 24-25 October 2008 in Beijing, China. The Summit was attended by Heads of State and Government of 16 Asian and of 27 European nations, the President of the European Commission and the Secretary-General of ASEAN Secretariat, making it the first gathering of leaders of 45 ASEM Partners since its second round of enlargement in 2006. The meeting was chaired by the Chinese Premier, HE WEN Jiabao.

With the overarching theme of “Vision &Action: Towards a Win-Win Solution”, this Summit was held against a backdrop of global financial crisis along with other pressing issues such as energy and food shortages and natural calamities. This gathering of leaders from more than half of world’s population therefore could not have been more relevant and timely, with more than 1,800 reporters from 51 countries worldwide converged onto Beijing to cover the summit.

The ASEM Culture and Arts Festival was held on 02-08 September 2019, as a follow up of this Summit to foster better understanding and cooperation among its peoples.