The Ninth APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is scheduled to be held in Shanghai on October 20- 21, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao announced at a regular press conference Thursday.

Leaders from APEC member economies will gather to discuss the economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. They will also exchange views on the macro-economic situation in the region, strengthening human capacity building and the future of APEC development.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin will chair the meeting and release a declaration at its close.

He said that the 13th APEC Ministerial Conference will also be held on October 17-18 in Shanghai. In this run-up to the leaders' meeting, ministers will discuss such topics as the liberalization of trading investment, economic and technological cooperation, new economy and regional macro-policy dialogue.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng will chair the meeting and a statement will be released after the meeting.

Prior to the 13th APEC Ministerial Conference, the informal senior officials meeting will be held.

(People's Daily 09/20/2001)