The meeting of the so-called "Global Issues Forum" will be led by the US under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, Paula Dobriansky, and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, the department said in a statement.

It will be the second meeting of the forum since its inauguration in Washington in April 2005.

Officials said the forum's goal was to strengthen cooperation between the United States and China on transnational issues including clean energy and sustainable development, fighting poverty, law enforcement and public health.

The April 2005 meeting notably dealt with climate change, fighting people trafficking and cybercrime, and health issues like SARS and bird flu, the State Department said.

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