The forum has since witnessed the trajectory of the country's growth: China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. This was followed by several years of an infrastructure construction boom in China's western regions under the campaign of "Go West".

Chengdu, as one of the few large cities in China's west, has benefited from the campaign and the west's deepening exposure to the world's economy.

In 2012, Chengdu's GDP grew to 813.9 billion yuan ($132 million), 10 times that of 2002, making it the third-largest economy of China's 15 sub-provincial cities after Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It became a self-sustaining economy, and a magnet for international companies as well as high-caliber talent.

Ge Honglin, mayor of Chengdu, said that before 2006 most of the graduates would go to first-tier cities like Shanghai and Beijing to seek jobs. Now more and more stay in Chengdu and work for local companies.

"Fortune's choices over the years reflected the wealth and growth shift within China, and Chengdu is an embodiment of the shift," said Cao Heping, an economic professor with Peking University.

Serwer also saw that trend. "Western companies looked to China as a place of outsourcing and production. Now these trends are certainly continuing, but another important part, the consumer part, is gaining more weight," Serwer said.

This, combined with the dramatic growth of China's western regions and its urbanization, constitute the content of the theme for the forum: China's new future.