Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai will jointly lead a delegation to attend the 19th ministerial meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), announced Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Thursday in Beijing.

The APEC ministerial meeting will be held in Sydney in preparation for the 15th economic leaders' informal meeting of APEC due to be held also in Sydney on September 8 to 9. The upcoming ministerial meeting will focus on issues of the Doha Round of talks, integration of regional economy, trade and investment, economic and technological cooperation, human security, anti-corruption, APEC structural reform, etc.

The APEC is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Since the APEC's birth in 1989, it has grown to encompass 21 members spanning four continents, and represents about 40 percent of the world's population, 56 percent of global GDP and 48 percent of world trade.

APEC groups Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong of China, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2007)