About 20 business leaders from Japan and the United States are slated to meet in California to discuss a variety of topics including trade issues and global warming problems March 1-2, the Japan-U.S. Business Council chairman in Japan said Monday.

Exchange rate issues, electronic commerce and Asia's economic crisis are also among the topics to be discussed at the 24th annual Japan-U.S. Joint Executive Committee Meeting, to be held prior to the business council's upcoming annual meeting in July, said Minoru Makihara, the council chairman and president of Mitsubishi Corp.

Makihara said U.S. businesses are expecting Japan to open its market and hammer out measures to stimulate its economy. "I am sure that U.S. businesspeople may be concerned about an export-driven Japanese economy ... They may ask us why Japanese businesses do not pressure the Japanese government to stimulate the economy," he said.

Participants of the joint meeting will include Yotaro Kobayashi, chairman of Fuji Xerox Co. and the former council chairman, Jiro Ushio, chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai), and Shoichiro Toyoda, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren).

From the U.S. side, Michael Jordan, chairman of CBS Corp., Henry Schacht, chairman of Lucent Technologies, and Wayne Booker, vice chairman of Ford Motor Co., are expected to attend the meeting.