China will soon set up Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Program (AFDP) in a bid to promote the capacity building of Asia and Pacific economies in the sector of finance, and facilitate their exchanges for sustained economic development and cooperation, officials said Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Shanghai-based Secretariat of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Finance and Development Program said the planned program will also put forward some reasonable proposals on issues concerning regional finance and development.

Addressing the APEC informal leadership meeting Sunday in Santiago, capital of Chile, Chinese President Hu Jintao said China will create AFDP as a platform for members of the Asia Pacific community to boost their capacity for exchanges and cooperation in finance and economic development.

AFDP will replace the APEC Finance and Development Program, which was initiated by China and established in 2001 to improve economic and technological cooperation among member economies and will last until the end of this year, said the spokesman, who declined to say when the new program will be launched.

Through the new program jointly sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, China will host several training projects, hold forums and sponsor research projects concerning regional finance and development, said the spokesman.

About 120 financial and banking officials and experts from the Asian and Pacific region are scheduled to discuss issues on financial reform and supervision, regional finance and cooperation on November 28 at the last annual SFDP seminar in the tropical city of Sanya on the island province of Hainan, south China.

Senior officials from China's Ministry of Finance, China Banking Regulatory Commission, and People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, are expected to exchange views at the one-day forum with their counterparts from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and other regional economies.

Senior officials or experts from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank will also attend the seminar.

Coordinated by the Chinese government and World Bank, the Shanghai-based Secretariat of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Finance and Development Program has organized six training programs for 433 financial officials, entrepreneurs and experts from APEC member economies, and two annual seminars during the past three years, said the spokesman.