More than 1,500 people from China and abroad have registered to take part in the second Summer Davos slated for September 25-27 in Tianjin, said mayor of the northern Chinese municipality on Monday.

Among the registered, 80 percent are government officials and leaders from famous enterprises and non-governmental organizations, said mayor Huang Xingguo, who is a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

"The theme of this session of the Summer Davos would be 'a new wave of growth', under which participants are expected to talk about problems cropping up in the global economic growth," Huang said.

The 11,000-square-kilometer port city next to Beijing has also invited more than 50 mayors from well-known cities to a forum on city development, he added.

"The year 2008 marks the 30th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, and the Summer Davos will be held on the heels of Beijing Olympics," he said. "It is another good opportunity for the world to know China and Tianjin."

Initiated in 1971, the World Economic Forum (WEF) promotes itself as an independent and not-for-profit organization that convenes at the beginning of each year in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for economic and political dialogue.

The Summer Davos, also known as the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, is held annually in China, with the first session in Dalian of the northeastern Liaoning Province last September, attracting nearly 2,000 participants.

The third session will be back to Dalian, according to an earlier report, while WEF is to conduct an open tender process to determine the host city for the 2010 Summer Davos. The criteria will be announced after the Tianjin meeting.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2008)