For regional stability

Asian countries have taken a key step forward in furthering regional financial cooperation.

The agreement that finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China, Japan and Republic of Korea (ROK) reached on Sunday on a regional foreign reserve swap worth at least $80 billion is of great significance for both securing regional financial stability and delivering common prosperity in the long run.

Such a joint effort to shore up the region's defense against speculative attacks on local currencies is as needed today as it was a decade ago.