Foreign ministers from 22 countries are scheduled to gather in the Chinese seaside city of Qingdao this month for the third Asian Co-operation Dialogue (ACD) meeting, China said on Friday.
The meeting on June 21 and 22 will draw ministers from the 10 Asean countries, plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and several Gulf nations.
They will discuss international and regional questions, a foreign ministry official said at a briefing.
"We will stress that China attaches great importance on regional co-operation on counter-terrorism," the official said.
However, he denied that the North Korean nuclear issue would be a key topic of discussion, with the third round of six-party talks on the issue scheduled to take place in Beijing before the end of June.
"This issue will not be a focus of discussion," he said of North Korea.
Instead, energy will be a focus of talks with the grouping expected to adopt a framework document on energy co-operation.
Asked whether the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan would hold bilateral talks, he said: "I do not have that information but there will be a lot of bilateral meetings."
As well as the ACD talks, the first meeting of the China-Japan-South Korea Three Party Committee will be held in the eastern city.
The annual ACD ministerial get together was founded in 2002 by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an informal dialogue aimed at strengthening co-operation among Asian nations.
Its primary focus last year was development of the billion-dollar Asian Bond Fund, which will raise co-operation among the region's monetary authorities and develop Asia's capital markets.
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