With the United States intent on continuing with its unilateralism and protectionism, Asia and Europe will seek to work more closely together to prevent the global trade and investment order from being undermined by the unruly actions of the US, a China Daily editorial said.

With the European Union putting forward its strategy for Eurasian connectivity and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative gaining steam, the distance between the two continents is in effect shrinking, especially now the value of their shared appreciation of rules-based trade and investment exchanges has been fully recognized.

The forthcoming two-day 12th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit is the highest-profile platform for dialogue between the two continents. The two sides can discuss how the two initiatives can be coordinated and reinforced through closer collaboration and act as a bulwark against the US attack on the global system, efforts that will benefit not only the two continents, but the world at large as well.