By staff reporter LUO YUANJUN

On May 16th, the Ninth Fortune Global Forum rolled into town, and 700 leaders of global businesses, including 77 of the world’s top 500 companies, came with it. Beijing 2005 was the third time Fortune had chosen China for its business leaders’ bash, following the 1999 Shanghai and 2001 Hong Kong events.

“This was the most successful Fortune Global Forum ever, and can be viewed as an exemplary forum,” said Zhao Qizheng, Minister of the Chinese State Council Information Office, in his concluding speech. “It gives international investors and entrepreneurs a valuable opportunity to learn more about China, and that information can be very useful for their future investment plans.”

The Beijing Fortune Global Forum had “China and the New Asian Century” as its theme. China’s development has been well documented by the changing themes of the three forums held on its soil: “The Fortune Forum in Shanghai was themed on China alone, while the Fortune Forum in Hong Kong focused on Asia,” Minister Zhao said, “This time, China’s development was combined with that of Asia and the world at large, which indicates the country’s growing national strength.”

After the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, the global economy jolted into recession. China, however, emerged as a shining star, becoming more active on the world’s political, economic and cultural stages, and helping to resuscitate the Asian economy. Fortune, witnessing the marvelous mechanisms that drove China forward, wanted to know more about its direction, and chose Shanghai for its fifth Global Forum, choosing as its theme: China in the Next Fifty Years.

Before Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, Fortune had predicted that the SAR would stumble down a dead end. This gloomy forecast made Hong Kong residents fret over their future. Under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy, however, that prediction turned out to be less reliable than the BBC weather forecast and Hong Kong’s economy soared into blue skies at an annual growth rate of 10.5 percent. The seventh Fortune Global Forum was hence held in Hong Kong.

Since China’s WTO accession in late 2001, the country has delved further into the global economy, and Beijing’s successful bid for the 2008 Olympics magnetized still more on the Chinese capital. “Beijing is the capital of China, the political center of the country. We choose Beijing in order to approach China better,” said Robert Bierman, President of the conference division of Fortune Magazine. The Forum’s sponsors realize the growing influence of Asia and its leaders in the global economy. They see a revitalized Asia as the most likely counterweight to the powerhouses of the United States and Europe. Naturally, this presents both challenges and opportunities.

China: An Opportunity Not to be Missed

Zhao Xijun, director of the Financial Department of the Chinese People’s University said that the topics discussed at the Beijing Fortune Global Forum were far deeper than those of the forums in Shanghai or Hong Kong.

Business leaders at the Beijing Forum examined China’s entry into the WTO, and how it has opened up Chinese financial and capital markets to international investors, as well as the ever-expanding number of business opportunities in the country.

A powerful and stable investment market is vital to China’s continued economic growth. The Chinese capital market is still young, and needs to be standardized, and confusing or non-existent market regulations make some investors wary. During the Beijing Forum, foreign investors got a first-hand glimpse of Chinese capital market reform and how they are shaping up, which boosted confidence.

Sky rocketing oil prices have pushed energy to the forefront of business leaders’ concerns, and black gold was a hot topic at the forum. China now faces oil and gas shortages, and many investors are wondering how China’s economy will continue to expand at warp speed if its engines run out of juice. Those at the forum discussed the potential for cooperation in energy consumption, and China, as a major power guzzler, has made it clear that it will adopt stricter energy saving measures.

The issue of environmental protection also surfaced at the forum. China no longer pursues economic development at the expense of the environment, having opted for scientific and sustainable development. Some government, non-government and international companies at the forum decided to work together on seeking remedies to the world’s environmental nightmares, by finding ways of using energy more efficiently.

Intellectual Property Rights Protection, or rather, the lack of it, has inhibited certain large enterprises’ operations in Asia in the past few years. This was another beast that those at the Beijing Fortune Forum wanted to slay, or at least scratch. Participants discussed the current IPR protection measures in place in Asia, and how they could be improved.

Going by the topics discussed at the Beijing Forum, it seems that the world’s major business players’ interest in China has evolved from mere curiosity to development of cooperative and strategic plans.

Participation and Share

During 1999’s Shanghai Fortune Global Forum, China was still negotiating its entry into the WTO, and the hottest topic was: How should China integrate into the world economy. Others wondered if the RMB would depreciate as a result.

Fast-forward six years, and the topic was completely different. Attendants were sweating over the impact of the RMB exchange rate on the world’s economy and financial markets. When will the RMB be revalued? Will the currency be floated? When will interest rates rise again? World financiers descended upon the Chinese capital to discuss the freefalling dollar’s impact on the world economy, and what would happen if the RMB – US dollar peg was loosened or dropped altogether. They were also eager to learn about China’s views on foreign currency exchange. The amount of attention and speculation being poured down upon the Chinese currency indicates just how important the country’s economy has become in terms of the global picture.

Many of the world’s economic heavyweights see China as the world’s most attractive market, with its quick economic growth. In 2004, China contributed some 10 percent of the world’s economic growth, and 12 percent of its trade growth.

China’s opening up process is also one of foreign capital participation and profit sharing. Between 1990 and 2004, overseas investors wired US $250 billion of profits out of China, and among the 280,000 foreign invested companies operating in the country, two thirds are turning profits.

And where China will be by the next time the Fortune Global Forum visits these shores is something that businessmen both inside and outside of the country are dreaming about.