On the occasion of the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions, known as the "Summer Davos", I offer my heartfelt congratulations on the opening of the summit on behalf of the people of Wuxi and extend our warmest welcome to 1,700 delegates from 90 countries around the world.

Wuxi, located in the central Yangtze River Delta on the southeast coast of China, covers an area of 4,700 sq km. It is 128 km away from Shanghai to its east and borders the Yangtze River to the north, while embracing the Taihu Lake to the south. It boasts well-developed transport systems and facilities with the Beijing-Shanghai expressway and high-speed railway linking the south and the north, and Wuxi (Sunan) International Airport operating direct flights to and from 15 major international and domestic cities including Hong Kong, Macao, Beijing, Dalian, Chengdu and Shenzhen.

As one of the country's well-developed cities, Wuxi has 15 economic development zones above the provincial level, including three at national level. Around 80 Fortune 500 companies have established bases in the city. In 2006, it generated a gross domestic product of 43 billion yuan ($5.7 billion), ranking 9th among the major big and medium-sized cities in China in economic strength.