Business leaders and tycoons from around the world flew in to attend the 12th International Multinational Corporation Leaders Roundtable Conference, which was held in the Beijing Economic Technological Development Area – or the BDA -- on Nov 21-22.

The two-day summit saw the participation of entrepreneurs from more than 100 Fortune 500 multinational companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Paris-based ENGIE Group, Germany’s  SAP Group, US tech group Qualcomm and Chia Tai Group from Thailand.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a letter of congratulations to the event.

The event included activities such as the International Cooperation and Development Forum, the China-Europe Business Leaders Cooperation Forum and the Dialogues between World Top 500 Companies and Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.

Leaders of multinational companies from all over the world shared ideas and their investment experience, development strategies, views on inclusive and sustainable development – as well as their takes on industrial internet development opportunities and the smart manufacturing new ecology, the rollout of the Belt and Road Initiative and their thinking on global economic driving forces.

In addition, a list of Top 300 Multinational Corporations in China was unveiled at the event.

The BDA, relying on its industrial foundation and open mind, won the opportunity to host the event.

As the only State-level economic and technological development zone in Beijing, the BDA has attracted more than 26,000 companies from more than 40 countries and regions in the world, with a total investment of more than $100 billion.

These include more than 130 projects funded by Global Top 500 groups Mercedes-Benz, ABB, Corning, GE, Bayer and some 1,000 State-level high tech-based companies in China.

Officials said the main platform for the market-oriented investment promotion of the BDA is Beijing E-Town International Investment & Development Co – or E-Town Capital for short.

They said that as such, it fully integrates government resources and market forces, actively attracts leading enterprises to enter the zone, works to improve the upstream and downstream industrial chains of the BDA and undertakes successful operations to ensure industry clustering in the area.

According to officials of the BDA, at the start of the year, the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee approved a development plan for the BDA’s management system.

They said as a result, the planning and development of the 225-square-kilometer Yizhuang New City will be carried out by the BDA. Overall, the BDA is developing from an industrial functional zone into a new international modern high-end industrial city.

E-Town Capital will continue to optimize and integrate its resources, officials said.

It will do this by putting in place an industry-finance services system which, among other things, will promote regional coordinated development and introduce global innovation resources.

The company will actively build a real economy support platform, a financial services platform and an innovation incubation platform.

Officials said these initiatives would help build the company into an industrial investment powerhouse with international influence, while boosting the transformation and upgrade of the BDA.