Co-hosted by the Tianjin municipal government and BusinessWeek,a well-known economic publication, the forum has attracted attention from home and abroad to Tianjin, a major port and economic hub in north China, according to Chen Su, deputy directorof Tianjin's Information Office.

With the theme of "New Century, New Horizons: Business Opportunities in China after WTO", the forum will hold several panel discussions on new advantages for attracting foreign investment to China, the future development of China's state-owned-enterprises, and access of overseas enterprises to the Chinese market.

Chen said that keynote addresses would be made by former U.S. President George Bush, former Australian Prime Minister Robert Hawke and, Supachai Panitchpakdi, director general-designate of the World Trade Organization.

Of the 247 official delegates, some 127 will come from 14 countries and regions including the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand.

Also present at the forum are more than 164 Chinese and overseas journalists to give all-round coverage of the event.

Analysts said that this was another noteworthy high-level forumheld in China after the Bo'ao Forum for Asia and the annual assembly of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace.

BusinessWeek is an authoritative publication based in the United States, highly regarded for its accurate and prompt coverage of world economic affairs. It maintains close relationships with leading international corporations and regularly hosts informative conferences.

The one-day forum will be held in Tianjin Economic-technological Development Area (TEDA). Tianjin is one of the renowned commercial and industrial cities of China and TEDA is one of China's fastest-growing economic zones.

(People's Daily May 09, 2002)