The Fortune Global Forum held in May,2005 in Beijing served as a platform for the world to better understand China and keep the world abreast of latest developments in China, said Robert E. Bierman, president of Fortune's conference division.

Beijing forum was the third stage that the forum was held in China, following Shanghai in 1999 and Hong Kong in 2001.

"As the capital of China, Beijing is the center of political and economic power in China. It is also home of the 2008 Olympics, and a city rich in history," Mr. Bierman explained why Fortune chose Beijing.

"China has spent a lot of time understanding the world, which is a good thing, and now the rest of the world will spend time learning to understand China," he said.

Besides 300 chief executive officers and government officials from around the world, about 300 international guests and 200 important Chinese guests were invited to the Forum, who were not in the Global 500 list.

Beijing forum aimed to help those who are interested in investing China with a focus on understand the fundamental changes being driven by government, consumers and corporations in the region.

What was special for 2005 Forum

Beijing forum included two special roundtable meetings on sports and culture.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was a major catalyst, and rapid development was also occurring in virtually every other sports sector. This program brought together the leaders of sports in China and experts from around the globe to discuss these fascinating changes and explore the opportunities the sport event would present to multinational companies.

The culture roundtable meeting examined in detail the evolving role of the media, megacities, education, the emerging affluent class and the luxury market.

Bierman added that CEOs from multinational companies are looking for insights that go beyond economics to explore local culture. "Without a good understanding of the underlying culture, how can you run a successful business in a foreign country?"

The Beijing Forum ran from May 16-18.