Underlining its growing economic clout, China is hosting the Fortune Global Forum that will see more than 800 corporate honchos and senior executives from the world's top 500 companies in attendance, reports Xinhuanet.

"China has a continued story of growth that our delegates are very interested in," said Robert Bierman, president of the Conference Division of Fortune Magazine, which has organized the three-day forum that opens here May 16.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will address the opening ceremony. Several officials including Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and president of People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan will speak at the forum.

Bierman said China had become an important player in both the region and the world and there was a lot of curiosity about that among the business community.

Zhao Qizheng, head of the state council information office, a co-sponsor of the Beijing Forum, attributed the large scale of the forum to the increasing attraction of China.

China's economy has grown at nine percent over the past 20 years. In 2004, its gross domestic product reached $164 billion, up 9.5 percent over the previous year. The country is the world's third largest trader, after the US and Japan.

"The world's businessmen eyed China's economic potential six years ago in Shanghai, and now these potentials have come true. The focus will be turned to the continuity and expansion of such potential," said an observer.

As an official from General Motors, China said in the 21st century, which has been called "The Asian Century", no company could succeed without tapping the potential of Chinese and Asian markets.

China earlier hosted the forum in 1999 in Shanghai and in 2001 Hong Kong.

--Indo-Asian News Service