2017 Fortune Global Forum to be held in Guangzhou
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 14, 2016
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Mr. Alan Murray, Time Inc. Chief Content Officer and Fortune Editor-in-Chief, announces at the press conference that Time Inc. will host the 2017 Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou. |
The city of Guangzhou announced that the 2017 Fortune Global Forum will be held in the city at a press conference on September 13.
It was announced by Mr. Alan Murray, Time Inc. Chief Content Officer and Fortune Editor-in-Chief, at the press conference that Time Inc. will host the 2017 Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou.
It is noted that in making the selection, Fortune not only cited Guangzhou’s reputation as an open and inclusive millennium commercial city, but also as a business-friendly city, one that has announced initiatives to facilitate investment promotion and business development which are highly attractive to multinational companies. Guangzhou’s drive to lead in reforms and innovation in various areas is another reason for Fortune to choose the city.
After the press release, there will be a business roundtable where representatives from the Fortune platform and Guangzhou companies will have further exchange and communication to know each other’s demands and explore potential cooperation.
To host Fortune Global Forum in the fastest-grwoing area in China
As Alan Murray noted in the press conference, “Guangzhou, China’s Southern gateway to the world, is the ideal location for the 2017 Fortune Global Forum.As a center of international trade for many centuries, Guangzhou is both a renowned symbol and a modern manifestation of China’s participation in global commerce.”He further added that when globalization is faced with severe challenges, they believed that the Forum in Guangzhou will be a strong proof of the importance of global commerce and how significant the changes technology is bringing to the world’s business.”
It is learned that the Fortune Global Forum will bring together the CEOs of the world’s biggest companies—the Fortune Global 500—along with the heads of China’s most important companies and top government officials.The 2017 Fortune Global Forum will be held in late November or early December.
Alan Murray pointed out when choosing the place to host the Forum, Fortune learned that Guangzhou is “well known as a business-friendly city, one that has established economic and trade relationships with more than 200 countries and regions on five continents”.He said that “the initiatives that Guangzhou to facilitate investment promotion and business development are highly attractive to multinational companies, including the hubs that have been announced as part of the city's development plan for international shipping, aviation, science and technology innovation. Today more than half the Fortune Global 500 companies have already made investments in or set up operations in Guangzhou, with potential for continued expansion.”
According to Alan Murray, Fortune noted Guangzhou’s position as the capital city of Guangdong Province, the most populous province in China. This fact also makes Guangzhou an attractive destination for multinational companies.Other factors include Guangzhou’s strategic position on the Maritime Silk Road and its participation in the Guangdong Free Trade Zone, which is of special interest to companies in many fields, including finance, shipping, high tech, manufacturing and logistics.
Another driver in the selection of Guangzhou for the Fortune Global Forum, as Alan Murray said in the press conference, is its position as the biggest city and largest port in the Pearl River Delta (PRD).A 2015 World Bank report found that PRD has taken over Tokyo as the largest urban area in terms of area and population. The population in the region is larger than Argentina, Australia, Canada, Malaysia and some other countries. It is seen as a rapid developing center of China.
Further enhancing Guangzhou’s global awareness
Mr. Zhang Hongbin, a Deputy Director General from the State Council Information Office of People’s Republic of China, said in his speech that the great locations, excellent talents and strong economy of Guangzhou give the city great conditions to host large international events. It has held the 16th Asian Games and biannual Canton Fair.
Mr. Zhang believes that the selection of Guangzhou as the host city for the Fortune Global Forum next year will help the international community better understand the development philosophy of innovation, coordination, greenness, openness, and sharing that China is talking about. What’s more, it will be conducive to closer and deeper economic and trade cooperation and exchanges between China and other countries, attracting more foreign companies to invest in China and further enhancing Guangzhou’s global awareness.
Guangzhou will be a good host
At the press conference, Mr. He Zhongyou, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, spoke on behalf of CPC Guangdong Committee and Guangdong Provincial Government. He expressed welcome for 2017 Fortune Global Forum to be held in Guangzhou, congratulations on the city for it and thanks to friends from home and abroad who have long showed support for and interest in Guangdong’s development.
According to Vice Governor He, it is a multi-win situation for Fortune to host the 2017 Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou. Guangdong is leading other provinces in the country in terms of economy. Its GDP reached 7.28 trillion Yuan last year, accounting for one ninth of the national total. The province has claimed the first place in terms of economy in the country for 27 consecutive years. If Guangdong is taken as an economy, it ranked 16th in the world in terms of its size. The size of Guangdong’s economy is very close to that of South Korea, the 15th largest in the world. Fiscal revenue of Guangdong was 2093.4 billion Yuan, one eighth of national total. GDP per capita of the province was 67,500 Yuan (10,800 USD), at the level mid-and-slightly-higher income countries and regions. Guangdong is also top industrial province. Electronic information, electrical machinery, automobile, petrochemical and textile are the pillar industries of the province. 80% of multinational companies’ purchase deals in China are in PRD and many multinationals place their final assembly line in Guangdong. In addition, it is also beating other provinces in foreign trade. As the south gateway to China, Guangdong has long been an important foreign trade center of the country and plays a significant role in international trade. Export and import volume last year exceeded 1 trillion USD, taking up around a quarter of national total.
He pointed out that the acceleration of implementation of the Belt and Road initiative will bring new opportunity for Guangdong to develop its foreign trade. As a major national central city and the capital city of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou is the host city of China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair), the No. 1 Fair in China. The city is very experienced in organizing big major events such as the 16th Asian Games. Besides, it has good infrastructure for large activities. That is why Guangzhou has the ability and favorable conditions to be a good host of Fortune Global Forum.
Vice Governor He predicted in his speech that the 2017 Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou will bring excellent opportunities to CEOs of multinational and Global 500 companies. It will help build a high-end platformthat promotes diverse dissemination and cooperation of fortune and kick off the time of optimized allocation of fortune resources in the world.
Building a key city for international exchanges and cooperation
Mr. CaiChaolin, Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, said in his speech that the local Lingnan Culture of Guangzhou that draws wisdom from different cultures develops the city into an open, inclusive and innovative one. Guangzhou’s economy today grows steadily and the city ranks the third interms of economy for 27 consecutive years among Chinese Mainland cities.Guangzhou’s average annual growth rate in the 12th Five Year Plan Period (2011-2015) was 10.1%. In the first half of this year, the city’s economy expanded by 8.0%. What’s more, its economic structure keeps improving, with the ratios of first, second and tertiary industries optimizing and reaching the same level as developed countries.
He noted that, “Guangzhou todayis a hub connecting the world. The city has world-class seaport, airport, railway port and information port. It has 168 container liner routes toover 400 ports in more than 100 countries and regions. Guangzhou’s airport, Baiyun International, has opened 136 international routes tofive continents. In addition, Guangzhou is one of China’s four major railway hubs, one of China’s top three communication hubs, an internet exchange point, and one of the China’s three connection points to the global internet. Today, Guangzhou is an international trade and investment cooperation center, establishing economic and trade relationships with more than 220 countries and regions in the world. 288 Fortune Global 500 companies have already made investments in or set up operations in Guangzhou.”
It is learned that the city has topped the Forbes’ list of the best Chinese mainland cities for business five times over the past six years. Vice Mayor Cai further added thatGuangzhou is an easy and commercial city. It has mountains, rivers, lakes, sea, urban areas and farm lands. The greening rate of the city is 41.5%, and the forest coverage rate is 42%. In 2015, the number of days with standard air quality reached 312 days. The climate here is humid and the city is surrounded by flowers in four seasons. It is thus called the Flower City. Guangzhou is also famous for its delicious food. East or west, Guangzhou Food is the best.
Great achievements in investment attraction for 3 consecutive years
Our reporter learned from the press conference that Guangzhou made great achievements in investment attraction over the past three years. In 2014, Guangzhou attracted 83,000 Chinese invested projects with registered capital of 260.75 billion Yuan. Among them, there were 309 projects with a registered capital of more than 100 million Yuan and 22 projects of more than 1 billion Yuan. Over the same period, Guangzhou approved 1,155 new FDI companies, up by 5.8% year-on-year. Contractual volume of foreign investment increased by 13% year-on-year to 8.04 billion USD. And utilized volume climbed by 6.3% year-on-year to 5.11 billion USD. There were 31 FDI projects the investments of which were higher than 100 million USD.
In 2015, Guangzhou saw 102,000 newly registered companies, up by 25.1%. Among them, the number of Chinese invested company grew by 25% to 100,000 and that of foreign invested ones increased by 34.8% to 1,361. The registered capital of all new firms jumped by 57.7% to 576.78 billion Yuan. In the new projects, there were 62 large ones with registered capital higher than 1 billion Yuan, increasing by 51.2%, and 649 projects with registered capital of 0.1-1 billion Yuan, growing by 60.2%. China Mobil Internet, YY Inc, Alibaba, VIP.com, Wanda Sports Holding Company, Xiaomi, SINOMACH Intelligence Technology，AsiaInfo and CISCO-TCL Cloud Computing set headquarters or expanded investments in the headquarters in Guangzhou.
From January to July this year, Guangzhou welcomed 71,400 newly registered companies, increasing by 24.7%. Among them, the number of companies invested by Chinese grew by 24.9% to 70,500 and that of foreign invested ones was up by 12.3% to 866. There were 38 companies with registered capital higher than 1 billion Yuan and 414 projects with registered capital of 0.1-1 billion Yuan.Guangzhou successfully introduced key projects such as China Railway Construction Corporation’s headquarter in South China, CISCOIoE Cloud Manufacturing, the headquarter of bulk cargo business of COSCO, etc.
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