Profile of World Economic Forum:

The WEF was founded in 1971 as an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world by helping form partnerships to shape global, regional and industrial agendas.

Business members and partners are at the heart of the WEF. Members include 1,000 of the world's foremost companies, encompassing regional market leaders and organizations shaping the future of their industries.

The small Swiss town of Davos is famous for hosting the annual World Economic Forum's (WEF) winter summit. The Chinese port of Dalian hosted the first and is hosting the third annual meeting of Global Growth Companies (GGC), known as the "Summer Davos." Tianjin hosted the second Summer Davos in 2008.

(China.org.cn September 11, 2009)