Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councilor Dai Bingguo left here Saturday afternoon for the first round of the China-US Economic and Strategic Dialogue, which is to be held in Washington, D.C. from July 27 to 28.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry, Dai will co-chair the "Strategic Track" of the dialogue with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while Wang will co-chair the "Economic Track" with US Treasure Secretary Timothy Geithner, each as a special representative of their respective presidents.

US President Barack Obama will address the opening session of the dialogue, and meet with the Chinese delegation after the dialogue.

The dialogue mechanism was upgraded from former Strategic Dialogue and biennial Strategic Economic Dialogue, which were initiated by the two heads of state in 2005 and 2006, respectively.

The combination of the two former dialogues, with higher level officials in attendance, could be conducive to the coordination and cooperation between relevant central government departments of the two countries，Fu Mengzi, researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said in an interview with Xinhua.

Fu said in tackling with issues such as climate change and energy problem, several government departments should be involved, as issues could cover both political and economical fields.

During the meetings, the two sides will have extensive discussions on issues of strategic, overall and long-term significance in order to "deepen understanding, enhance mutual trust and promote cooperation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a regular press conference earlier this month.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2009)