(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-05 10:35

BEIJING, March 19 - The "rising stars" of corporate China present new opportunities to global businesses, the executive chairman and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) said Sunday.

"China is a rising star in the world with so many rising star companies. These companies are not yet well-known but will be among the top 1,000 companies in the world in five to 10 years," Klaus Schwab said.

"These companies, not only in China, but also all over the world, present new opportunities. We want to create a better understanding of the rising stars. The fast growth of these new companies with new competitiveness is an opportunity for everyone in the world."

Schwab, accompanied by a WEF delegation, inspected facilities such as the Dalian World Expo Centre which will host the inaugural meeting of the World Economic Forum Global Growth Companies in September.

He said China has a prominent position in global competitiveness according to the WEF Annual Global Competitiveness Report. And it is implementing measures to integrate itself more with the world economy, he said.

So when the WEF considered a platform for the world's most dynamic and innovative companies, the port city in Northeast China's Liaoning Province was chosen for convening the inaugural meeting.

The WEF will hold the annual meeting of global growth companies every summer in China, in addition to its annual forum held every winter in Davos, Switzerland.

The WEF participants in Davos are the world's largest companies but those to attend the Dalian meeting are emerging companies, a new generation of global champions.

"They are new stars in China, in India and other countries in the world. We want to create a global platform for them to communicate, and set up an ongoing network for global decision makers," Schwab said.

Chinese companies can learn by communicating with global companies on what the global environment is, and what risks and opportunities there are, he added.