APEC Senior Officials Hold Retreat in DalianSenior officials from the 21 APEC member economies held a retreat in this coastal city in northeast China's Liaoning Province Wednesday, in advance of the Third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM III) of the 13th APEC Ministerial Meeting, scheduled for August 23-24.This retreat is aimed to exchange views on content of documents for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and the Ministerial Meeting, scheduled in Shanghai in October. At the following SOM III, senior officials from 21 APEC members will continue their discussions on trade and investment liberalization, economic and technical cooperation of APEC, new economy and regional macro-policy dialogue. The meeting will be presided over by Wang Guangya, vice-foreign minister of China and SOM Chair. During August 16-21, various committees and forums under SOM discussed, in Dalian, specific work of APEC in their respective fields at SOM related meetings. China has hosted all three SOM meetings this year and other APEC-related conferences, in the run-up to the leaders' meeting and the ministerial meeting. The February SOM I and June SOM II were held in Beijing and Shenzhen, respectively. APEC, one of the key economic forums in the region, has established a working mechanism ranging from leaders' meetings, ministerial meetings to senior officials' meetings. |
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