US-China strategic-economic dialogue set for July 27-28

WASHINGTON: Top US and Chinese leaders will meet for the first US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue with the administration of President Barack Obama in Washington July 27-28, US officials said Monday.

According to a statement released by the US State Department and Treasury Department, the first joint meeting of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue "will focus on addressing the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas of immediate and long-term strategic and economic interests."

"This first meeting of the Dialogue will also set the stage for intensive, ongoing and future bilateral cooperative mechanisms," it added.

The meeting is the first in a series agreed by Obama and China's President Hu Jintao in April that replaces a "strategic economic dialogue" established by former president George W. Bush's administration and Beijing in 2006.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will be joined by their respective Chinese co-chairs, State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Vice Premier Wang Qishan.