Fortune city

As the mayor of Chengdu, Ge Honglin has been frequently asked what the Fortune Global Forum means for this city. He chose to draw a comparison between the coming event and the 1999 Fortune Global Forum, which was held in Shanghai's Pudong area. As a participant in that event, Ge was keenly aware of how the forum has helped make the area more prominent internationally. And he believes the 2013 event will bring the same results to his city.

"It's a great opportunity for the world to have a better understanding of Chengdu and for Chengdu to go international," Ge said.

Chengdu Tianfu Software Park is a State Software Industry Base.

Serwer is of a like mind. He said the event will take the city to the next level and make CEOs and global leaders more aware of Chengdu.

Xu Fengxian, a senior researcher with institute of economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Science, said Fortune's choice shows that China's economic center is moving westward and the region is opening up further to the world.

Wang Zhile, researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said Chengdu's development is a sign of the country's fast pace of growth. Wang said both the city and China are placing a priority on "going global" and driving domestic markets along a path that will turn rapid growth into long-term development.

zhengyangpeng@chinadaily.com.cn