At least 487 business leaders, representing 260 international firms, will attend the upcoming FORTUNE Global Forum, scheduled to take place in Beijing on May 16-18, officials said yesterday.

Qian Xiaoqian, vice-minister of the State Information Office, said the number of confirmed participants by April 15 included leaders from 32 companies from Global 100 firms and 45 in Global 500 companies.

Fifty-seven firms on the list dispatched their CEOs to the FORTUNE Global Forum in Shanghai in 1999.

Ten Chinese companies, in the ranks of the Global 500, will also be represented at the event.

The forum, sponsored by US-based FORTUNE Magazine, is an event that gathers heads of state, chiefs of global businesses, and leading thinkers to focus on many of the most pressing issues facing world business. The leaders share strategies and forge alliances that transform challenges into opportunity, conference organizers said.

The upcoming forum - the ninth to be held - is set to explore the theme "China and the New Asian Century." Chinese President Hu Jintao will attend to deliver the keynote address at the gala opening on May 16.

Qian said the number of participants may expand, since some CEOs have yet to confirm their participation.

(China Daily April 20, 2005)