A staff lifts equipments at Binhai International Convention & Exhibition Center in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Sep. 25, 2008. [Xinhua]

The World Economic Forum's (WEF) Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008, also known as the 2nd Summer Davos Forum, will be held from September 27-28 in north China's Tianjin Municipality.

The Summer Davos Forum was created according to a joint proposal by the World Economic Forum (WEF) chairman Mr. Schwab andChina's Premier Wen Jiabao, aimed at establishing a platform for the new generation of fast-emerging multinational companies and mature enterprises to meet, talk and share experience.

It is also named as Annual Meeting of the New Champions as the forum's participants mainly come from international growth enterprises. The Summer Davos, together with its winter counterpart, have been known as the two backbones of the WEF. The first Annual Meeting of the New Champions was held in the country's northern coastal Dalian City on September 6, 2007.

This year's Summer Davos Forum will be arranged under the theme"The Next Wave of Growth", with five topics in focus, namely, "Going Global", "Managing Risks", "Drivers of Future Growth", "Technology and Innovation: The Next Wave", and "China as a Global Player".

With its headquarter located in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum was founded in 1971 by Klaus Schwab, then professorof business policy at the University of Geneva. It is also known as the Davos Forum, as the forum's annual meeting has been held every January in Davos, a renowned Swiss village.

As a world-leading independent, non-governmental organization on international economy, the WEF has set its mission as gatheringworld leaders from various fields for cooperation, arranging discussion concerning world economic issues, and promoting international economic cooperation and communication. It is calledthe economic UN, as forum members include business leaders from the world's top 1000 companies, governmental officials, global media tycoons, as well as reputed experts in related fields.

The WEF's annual meeting is usually held in late January in Davos. More than 200 branch forums would be arranged during about a week's time on a preset theme. The issues discussed on the forumhave been extending with the WEF's ever enlarging influence in an ever changing world. Forum topics not only include hot fields in world economic development and business trends, but also cover wider issues of global importance on politics, military affairs, security and social development, among others.

A staff checks the condition of computers at the Media Center of Summer Davos in Tianjin on Sep. 25, 2008. [Xinhua]

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2008)