The APEC Meeting of the Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) has drawn wide attention from the local and international media.

The latest registration shows that some 350 journalists from 157 media organizations worldwide are signed in Shanghai to cover the two-day event, which is to be held June 6 and 7 in this China's economic and financial metropolis.

The theme of the meeting is "New Century, New Challenge: Participate, Cooperate and Enhance Co-prosperity". During the two-day meeting, the trade ministers from the 21 APEC members will hold discussions on local and global trade and investment.

The meeting is the first APEC ministerial meeting in the new millennium. Under the current global economic slowdown, the media will hope to learn something about the impact of the meeting on the global economic situation and on the future of the new round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.

According to the press center, reporters and the number of media organizations they represent outnumber all the previous APEC-related events held this year.

The journalists covering the event include 195 overseas reporters from 107 media organizations.

Apart from 39 from the US and 51 from Japan, there are also dozens of journalists from Britain, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada and Switzerland.

Some 50 reporters are from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In terms of news organization categories, the media range from traditional types, such as wire services, daily newspapers, magazines, broadcasting and television stations, to new outlets, including morning news programs, urban newspapers and government websites.

A number of high-profile names, such as the Associated Press, Reuters, the Kyodo News Agency, Newsweek and CNN, have sent their staff to Shanghai.

(Xinhua 06/01/2001)