Beijing, Sep 1 (Xinhua) Finance ministers from China and seven other countries in Central Asia are expected to agree on a framework for medium-term strategic cooperation at a meeting in northwest China next month.

Ju Kuilin, deputy-director of the international department of the Chinese finance ministry, said ministers from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan were expected to pass a comprehensive action plan on regional economic cooperation.

The meet is also expected to launch cooperation in research and capacity building for AIDS and avian flu prevention.

Ju told reporters that the cooperation plan, the first of its kind in Central Asia, would serve as a guideline for cooperation.

The meeting is scheduled Oct 18-20 in Urumqi, which borders Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries.

The Asian Development Bank initiated a regional cooperation mechanism for central Asian region, which was launched in 2002 focusing on communications, energy, trade facilitation and trade.

Regional highway corridor projects linking China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were under construction, and plans for other highway and railway projects linking some of the central Asian countries had been proposed.