Growing fast and going global

"The Summer Davos meeting lends an international vibe to the business environment of Tianjin and helps the city further open up to the world," said Huang Xingguo, mayor of the northern port city.

The Summer Davos, or the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, opens today. Starting in 2008, Tianjin has now hosted the event three times.

"It triggers the passion of leading players and business startups to join in the city's development," said the mayor.

Fortune 500 companies such as General Electric, Unilever and Volkswagen have started operations in the city and have all been successful.

There are also local enterprises investing overseas. Huang noted that an investment by Tianjin Pipe Corp in the United States "is the largest outbound investment from China in the manufacturing industry".

"We think local enterprises should try to 'go out' to ride the tide of today's business world, to get experience and to expand their markets."

Meanwhile, Tianjin has been improving its business environment to appeal to more investors.

Huang said the city has just submitted an application to the central government for establishing a free trade zone and preparations began last year.

The goal is to develop a free trade zone with almost no obstacles to trade and investment with a cluster of high-end industries and an advanced business environment, said Huang.

In the six years since the city began to host the Summer Davos, Tianjin has maintained an average annual economic growth of 15 percent.

Its total export and import volume reached $214.8 billion in 2013. The amount of utilized foreign investment grew on an average of 20 percent from 2004 to 2013 to total some $90 billion.

The number of foreign-funded enterprises has reached 24,000, including 152 Fortune 500 companies.

In addition, 213 of the top 500 companies in China have operations in Tianjin.

The Summer Davos meeting this year is focused on the value of innovation. Huang said that innovation plays an important role in the city's sustainable growth.

Tianjin is now home to 105 foreign-invested R&D institutions and more than 100 major Chinese academic institutions.

The city is also working on environmental protection initiatives to develop an "eco city".

"Participants at Summer Davos this year will see the beauty of Tianjin's natural environment and also the beauty of its booming economy," said Huang.

Contact the writers through lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/10/2014 page29)