Several hundred Chinese mayors, entrepreneurs and scholars, as well as their foreign counterparts, will get together in Beijing next month to look at the future shape of the service sector in Chinese cities.

The 2003 International Forum on Urban Development, which will be held between October 29 and 31 will "provide a valuable opportunity for Chinese cities to collect better ideas and win more investment to boost their service industries," said Tao Siliang, vice-president and secretary-general of the China Association of Mayors.

The association will organize the forum with the support of the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Information Technology and the State Council Development Research Centre.

But the Chinese cities will not be the only ones benefiting from this forum. "It (the forum) will also help bridge more overseas investors to share the interests resulting from the growth of Chinese cities," she told a press conference.

Chinese cities have become increasingly more powerful economic units of the nation against a backdrop of economic reform, with more overseas companies improving their relationships with municipal governments, according to Tao.

The forum has also won support from the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the Hong Kong Productivity Council, the US-based FedEx Corp and US-based company PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Delegates will respectively discuss the relationship between urban development and the real estate industry, the inflow of goods and materials, investment and financing, or the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement signed between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

A selection of projects will also be presented at the forum to invite outside investment by various participating municipalities.

(China Daily September 3, 2003)