Chinese entrepreneurs to attend the summer meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at China's northeastern port city of Dalian said they looked forward to exchanges with other participants and hope the meeting to be " resourceful and inspiring."
"My purpose here is to exchange and learn," said Feng Jun, CEO of Beijing Huaqi Information Digital Technology Co. Ltd., a Beijing-based high-tech company and owner of the Aigo brand.
"If the meeting proves informative and inspiring, I will be willing to register as a WEF member," he added.
Feng, 38, started his business by hawking computers on his tricycle before he set up a company in 1993 at then nascent Zhongguancun district in Beijing, or China's "silicon valley".
Over the past decade, the company has grown into a consumer electronics powerhouse with an annual sales volume of more than two billion yuan (about 265 million U.S. dollars). Aigo has also overtaken Samsung to become the top seller of portable MP3 music players in China.
The company, which is already exporting to countries including France, the United States and Australia, is seeking more shares in both domestic and overseas markets.
Feng is just one of China's new people of wealth who are in Dalian for the three-day Inaugural Annual Meeting of New Champions, or the summer Davos meeting.
"The agenda looks good to me. I hope the meeting will bring inspiration and favor the growth of my company," said Xiao Zhiguo, director of the board of Dalian Luming Science and Technology Group Co. Ltd., a private illumination technology firm.
"The meeting will be a good chance to expand our business network. But I'm also interested in meeting young people from different cultures and backgrounds," said Xu Ming, chairman of Dalian Shide Football Club Co. Ltd.
Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, said that given the fast development of Chinese companies, the current number of 29 WEF members is still modest. "Our objective is to incorporate 100 Chinese members in one or two years, 50 big companies and 50 fast-growing ones," Schwab said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 6, 2007)
