As the first city in western China to host the Michelin Challenge Bibendum, last November Chengdu welcomed some 3,000 participants from around the world who shared insights on the theme of "innovation in mobility at the heart of growth and urban well-being".

It was further confirmation that the capital of Sichuan province has won greater recognition from international business circles.

Philippe Verneuil, president of Michelin China, and Patrick Oliva, corporate vice-president of the French tire maker, both agreed that Chengdu's urban development accords with the theme of the event.

Verneuil said that Chengdu deeply impressed him when he was at the Fortune Global Forum in the city in 2013.

"The Sichuan and Chengdu governments provide strong support for hosting such major global events. It is a key factor why we put the event here," he said.

In recent years, Chengdu's economy has shown great growth momentum despite slowing growth nationwide. It has steadily climbed the list of top Chinese cities ranked by size of their economy.

Western China is becoming the most dynamic region of the country thanks to China's "Go West" campaign and the national strategy to develop the Silk Road Economic Belt. Ideally positioned to serve as a hub in the western part of the country, Chengdu has become a regional center for trading, finance and logistics, as well as science and technologies.

Chengdu is also China's third-largest automobile manufacturing base. In 2013, the output of its automobile industry grew more than 40 percent compared with the year previous.

According to Jean-Dominique Senard, CEO of Michelin Group, the company will strengthen cooperation, including that on R&D, with cities in western China, especially Chengdu.

Solid foundation

Chengdu has a solid foundation in the automobile industry and provides access to the huge western China market, making it a perfect place to hold the Michelin Challenge Bibendum, Senard said at a press conference for the event in November.

"China faces problems in sustainable mobility due to the rapid economic development in recent years. As a fast-developing city, Chengdu is also of much research value," he said.

A so-called Green Paper released by the event introduced technological innovations by many enterprises, which are expected to contribute to the global sustainable development.

Chengdu's great market potential and ideal geographical location are attractive for car manufactures, said Qiu Xiandong, general manager of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co, a joint venture by China's Dongfeng Motor and French company Citroen.

The company chose Chengdu as the location of its fourth factory at an investment of 12.3 billion yuan ($1.98 billion). It will become operational in 2016 and has a planned capacity of 360,000 automobiles a year.

In 2013, Schneider Electric, a global Fortune 500 company from France, established its first branch in Southwest China in Chengdu's High-tech Zone.

"Western China is going to take an increasingly bigger share of Schneider China's market in the future. Chengdu will be a key city for us, and that's why we chose to build our first branch in Southwest China in the city," said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, CEO of Schneider Electric.

In October, a delegation from the Champagne-Ardenne region in France visited the urban planning exhibition center in Chengdu's Tianfu New Area.

With Tianfu approved as a national-level new area, it is expected to embrace important development opportunities in business, technology, and environmental conservation.

According to Jean-Paul Bachy, president of the Champagne-Ardenne region, Tianfu New Area will serve as an ideal platform for French enterprises, especially medium and small-sized operations, to enter the China market.

Dubbed the 'eastern Alps', the Western Snow Range offers a European-style tourism for visitors to Chengdu.