With the 2013 Fortune Global Forum under way in Chengdu, locals are overcome with excitement over the arrival of business elites and political leaders from around the world.
"It is cool that we are holding the event," said taxi driver Yi Xiangdong, as he drove me to Shangri-La Hotel Chengdu, the forum's main venue, for an interview.
"We are the fourth city in China after Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Beijing to host the internationally renowned forum and the first in western China to do so," the 37 year old said proudly in perfect Mandarin, rarely heard in other western regions, where dialects are mostly spoken.
Martin Sorrell, CEO of the world's largest advertising company WPP Group, sees great potential for his company to grow further in Chengdu because he believes many Chinese companies in the city have the potential to expand internationally.
Sorrell, 68, is a respected figure in the global advertising industry and a speaker at this year's Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu which opens today. He says he will be staying in Chengdu for two weeks to meet potential clients.
"I'm using the conference in Chengdu as a hook to meet Chinese companies that we think not only have opportunities to brand and develop their market in China but also abroad," Sorrell says.
The breakthroughs made by industry leaders at this year's Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu have helped consolidate the host city's position as a high-tech and IT hub in western China, participants said. At the forum,companies were able to see the potential of Sichuan's capital to become an innovation center.
Pharmacy giant Boots looks to local partnersIt is home to 91 top-rated hospitals including Chengdu's West China Hospital, the largest in the country in number of beds. Some 392 of the province's hospitals are classified as "grade B".
International SOS opens Chengdu branchMedical and travel security risk company International SOS opened its new office on June 6 in Chengdu to further expand its business into China's western region. "We want to use the new office in Chengdu as a hub for western China," said Arnaud Vaissi, co-founder and chief executive official of the company.
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Zou Xueming, chairman of AllTech Medical Systems, is a household name to many people in Chengdu as well as those in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance worldwide.