APEC 2001 SOM III Opens in DalianThe Third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM III) of the 13th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) opened in Dalian, coastal city of northeast China's Liaoning Province Thursday morning.This is the last SOM formal meeting before the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and the ministerial meeting, scheduled in Shanghai in October. During the two-day meeting, presided over by Wang Guangya, vice- foreign minister of China and SOM Chair, senior officials from 21 APEC member economies will continue to discuss trade and investment liberalization, economic and technical cooperation, new economy and regional macro-policy dialogue, so as to prepare for the leaders' meeting and the ministerial meeting. On Wednesday, the SOM III held a retreat to exchange views on content of documents for the leaders' meeting and the ministerial meeting. From August 16 to 18, various committees and forums convened to discuss specific work of APEC in their respective fields at the SOM related meetings. |
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