IMPROVED FLOW: Vehicles run on the new elevated ring road in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, on May 25 (LI LIANGHUA)

Southwest China's Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, is famous for being the hometown of the panda. But it's rarely known that one out of every two computer chips in the world is made in the city, and over 70 percent of iPads are assembled there.

The inland city has been increasingly intertwined in the world economy, with almost half of the Fortune Global 500 having established their regional headquarters there.

From June 6 to 8, more than 600 leaders from the Global 500 and other global and local companies, government and civil society will gather in the city to attend the 2013 Fortune Global Forum.

"It's an unprecedented gathering of CEOs from the world's top companies," said Andy Serwer, Managing Editor of Fortune, at a press conference held in Beijing on May 30.

Initiated in 1995, the Fortune Global Forum is one of the top economic events of its kind in the world. It's the first time the forum will be held in China's western region and the fourth time in China, more than any other country.

Under the theme of China's New Future, this year's forum will focus on the evolution of China's economy, the development of China's western region and China's emerging role in a global context. The four central pillars of this year's forum will be: The China Century, Resource Solutions, Innovation and Technology, and Global Finance and Economic Recovery.

"West China is benefiting from three major trends right now, and they're most perfectly manifested in Chengdu," said Serwer. The major trends Serwer refers to are the country's western development strategy, urbanization and transition of the Chinese economy.

An emerging hub

Seen as the gateway to the west and the center of west China's development story, Chengdu has become a magnet for multinational companies. By the end of March this year, 238 of the Global 500 companies, including Lafarge, Intel and Siemens, had found their way to Chengdu. Since the announcement of Chengdu as the host of the Fortune Global Forum 2013 last year, 31 of the 500 companies on the list established a presence in the city.

"Credibility and good service are the recipe for Chengdu's success," said Ge Honglin, Mayor of Chengdu, at the press conference in Beijing. Meanwhile, the local government is also trying to promote cooperation between local private businesses and Global 500 companies, he said.

That involves allowing multinationals to build up their own value chains, industrial chains and supply chains in a short period of time. On the other hand, local small and medium-sized businesses, hi-tech enterprises in particular, can learn from these global companies and better integrate into the world economy. "In this way, win-win results can be achieved," said Ge.

Shao Wei, Senior Managing Director of Maersk Global Service Center in Chengdu—a Global 500 company branch company—listed commercial competitiveness, efficient government, talented human resources and enormous investment opportunities as the reasons that Maersk chose Chengdu. "It took only one year for the Maersk Chengdu project to be completed. Such a quick pace can only happen in Chengdu, in China," said Shao.

While becoming more integrated into the global economy, the city is also rapidly expanding its global transportation routes. With the launch of the fastest rail freight service between Chengdu and Lodz of Poland on April 26, goods can reach anywhere in Europe in one to three days upon arrival.

At the end of 2012, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport was linked to 149 destinations. This year, direct flights to five other foreign cities will open, and Chengdu will be connected to 58 foreign destinations, becoming China's fourth largest international air hub.

Ready to start

Last year, Chengdu's GDP grew to become the second largest of all provincial capitals after Guangzhou of south China's Guangdong Province, according to Ge.

The city has also ranked first in fixed-asset investment for five consecutive years. What's more, income among Chengdu's residents grew 14 percent in 2012, faster than its 13-percent GDP growth.

Having successfully hosted a few major events so far, including the Western China International Fair, the EU-China Business & Technology Cooperation Fair, and the Chinasoft and International Food Tourism Festival, Chengdu has quickly become one of the country's top sites for hosting conferences and exhibitions.

Currently, the city is set to host what is likely its most important event yet. Over 60,000 people signed up to serve as volunteers for the 2013 Fortune Global Forum. Furthermore, bilingual speakers have been recruited to help guests navigate their way through and make use of the forum's various amenities.

The city is putting together final preparations regarding infrastructure, event facilities and logistics to ensure a modern and international event.

Email us at: dengyaqing@bjreview.com