Beijing will host the first meeting of the China-Japan high-level economic dialogue mechanism in 2007, Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Wang Xinpei said in Beijing Wednesday.

Premier Wen Jiabao and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe jointly launched the mechanism during Wen's visit to Japan in April.

The mechanism is aimed at communicating economic development strategies and macro-economic policies, coordinating economic cooperation, and increasing policy communications on major regional and international economic issues, Wang said.

The mechanism will promote Sino-Japanese cooperation in key sectors such as energy, environmental protection, finance, high-tech and intellectual property protection, according to Wang.

(Xinhua News Agency May 17, 2007)