DAVOS, Switzerland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Time Inc.’s (NYSE:TIME) Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou, China, will take place from December 6 to 8, 2017, it was announced today by Time Inc. Chief Content Officer and Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alan Murray at a press conference in Davos, Switzerland. This major event will bring together CEOs from the world’s biggest companies—the Fortune Global 500—with leaders from China in both business and government.
In addition, Fortune announced the theme of this year’s Fortune Global Forum: “Openness and Innovation: Shaping the Global Economy.” The program will focus on the key issues facing multinational companies at a time of significant developments in the global economy and in China, which will hold its 19th CPC National Congress during the second half of 2017.
“Every major multinational company is paying close attention to China’s development at a time when global trade policies are being reshaped,” said Murray. “For companies that operate on a worldwide basis and rely on open markets, there’s a lot at stake.”
This event will be the fifth Fortune Global Forum to be held in China. At a press conference in September announcing Guangzhou as the 2017 location, Fortune cited Guangzhou’s reputation as a business-friendly city, one that has established economic and trade relationships with more than 200 countries and regions on five continents. Guangzhou has announced significant new initiatives to facilitate investment promotion and business development, building on its history as an international center of trade. According to the city's 13th five-year development plan, which covers 2016-2020, Guangzhou will establish hubs for international shipping, aviation, science and technology innovation by 2020. More than half the Fortune Global 500 companies have already made investments in or set up operations in Guangzhou, with potential for continued expansion.
Fortune also noted that as the capital city of Guangdong Province, now China’s most populous province, Guangzhou is an attractive destination for multinational companies. Other factors include Guangzhou’s strategic position on the Maritime Silk Road and its participation in the Guangdong Free Trade Zone, which is of special interest to companies in many fields, including finance, shipping, high tech, manufacturing and logistics. Another driver in the selection of Guangzhou for the Fortune Global Forum is its position as the biggest city and largest port in the Pearl River Delta. A 2015 World Bank Group report found that the Pearl River Delta has overtaken Tokyo to become the world’s largest urban area in both size and population. More people live in the region than the countries of Argentina, Australia, Canada and Malaysia. The area has been characterized as an epicenter of the Chinese boom.
Since 1995, the Fortune Global Forum has convened world leaders and the heads of global business—the chairmen, presidents and CEOs of many of the world’s largest companies—on the dynamic frontiers of international commerce. Participation in the Fortune Global Forum is by invitation only and expected guests will include multinational CEOs and the heads of some of China’s most important companies, along with world leaders. Participants in previous Global Forums have included former PRC Presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, Vice Premiers Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli; former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush; and company chairmen Richard Branson of Virgin Group, Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase, Ginni Rometty of IBM, Victor Fung of Li & Fung Ltd., Robert Iger of The Walt Disney Company, Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank, Yang Yuanqing of Lenovo, Jack Ma of Alibaba, Frederick W. Smith of FedEx, Zhang Ruimin of Haier and Robin Li of Baidu. The 2016 Global Forum was held in Rome last month and included the participation of His Holiness Pope Francis.
In a congratulatory message read at the opening dinner at the 2013 Fortune Global Forum, which was held in Chengdu, President Xi Jinping called the event “one of the most influential forums on economic development in the world.” A press release issued at the time by the government of Sichuan Province announced that Chengdu signed 74 investment projects during the 2013 Forum with Fortune Global 500 companies from both China and around the world, with a total investment of 112 billion yuan (US $18.3 billion).
Fortune is a global leader in business journalism with major franchises that include the Fortune 500 and the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For. The Global Forum is one of the signature live events produced annually by Fortune Live Media, including Fortune Most Powerful Women, Fortune Brainstorm Tech and Fortune MPW Next Gen.
Time Inc. is a global leader in live media with some of the world’s most prestigious brand events, including the Food & Wine Classic, Essence Festival, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, Time 100 Gala and many more. Since becoming a public company in 2014, Time Inc. has significantly expanded its brands further into the live events business and acquired INVNT, a global brand communications agency. Fortune magazine is available worldwide, and Fortune also publishes national editions in China, Turkey, Korea, India and Greece.
ABOUT TIME INC.
Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME) is a leading content company that engages over 150 million consumers every month through our portfolio of premium brands across platforms. By combining our distinctive content with our proprietary data and people-based targeting, we offer highly differentiated end-to-end solutions to marketers across the multimedia landscape. Our influential brands include People, Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, Real Simple and Southern Living, as well as more than 50 diverse titles in the United Kingdom. Time Inc. has been extending the power of our brands through various acquisitions and investments, including Viant, an advertising technology firm with a specialized people-based marketing platform; The Foundry, Time Inc.’s creative lab and content studio; and the People Entertainment Weekly Network (PEN). The company is also home to celebrated events, such as the Time 100, Fortune Most Powerful Women, People’s Sexiest Man Alive, Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year, the Essence Festival and the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
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