The Third APEC Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM3) and related meetings kicked off Monday in Dalian City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, bringing together more than 2,300 representatives from APEC member economies and related organizations.
The meetings, scheduled to run through August 28, are the largest of their kind in terms of both the number of participants and events, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Nearly 130 meetings and events are scheduled, including the SOM plenary session, committee meetings, working group meetings and seminars covering areas such as trade, transportation, food security, customs, science and technology, energy, health, disaster risk reduction and anti-corruption.
The meetings are expected to advance cooperation across APEC mechanisms and sectors, and help lay the groundwork for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting scheduled for November, according to the ministry.
More than 2,300 representatives from APEC member economies, the APEC Secretariat, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) are expected to attend.
China is hosting APEC for the third time this year under the theme "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together."
The Dalian meetings are part of a series of APEC events leading up to the economic leaders' meeting in November.
Third APEC senior officials' meeting opens with record participation
