The "New Champions" in China

03 Sep 2007 – John Elkington

Well, if I’m not stalled by climate change protestors gumming up the works at Heathrow, I should have left for China today, en route to Dalian, where I am due to facilitate four separate sessions at the inaugural Annual Meeting of the ‘New Champions’

The event, which runs September 6-8, has been organized by the World Economic Forum in partnership with the government of the People’s Republic of China – and among those taking part is China’s Premier, Wen Jiabao.

This time round, my involvement focuses on four broad themes: (1) managing regulatory risk in emerging markets; (2) the evolution and management of the cities of tomorrow; (3) green technology; and (4) entrepreneurial philanthropy (for further details on these sessions, see the Dalian programme.

And the background? Klaus Schwab, the Forum’s Founder and Executive Chairman, explains, “The idea was born out of talks the Premier and I had two years ago during a visit to Beijing. The meeting is already well on track to becoming, alongside our Annual Meeting in Davos, the foremost meeting of global leaders from all sections of society, from all areas of business and from all regions of the world. Indeed, some are already calling it a ‘summer Davos’.”

Whatever the outcome – and I have heard the view whispered that this initiative is designed to head off the potential threat of China developing a World Economic Forum of their own – this isn’t a new area of interest for the Davos crowd. In January, for example, the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos was entitled ‘The Shifting Power Equation’ and discussion focused on various aspects of the changing business landscape: the growing prominence of the emerging economies, the increasing power of individuals and small groups over large institutions and the stronger impact of consumers upon producers.

2007 marked my sixth Forum summit. The first – early in 2002 – was held in New York, in support of that city in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. And the agenda has moved on substantially since then. Issues that were still frankly marginal in 2002 have thrust into the mainstream, among them climate change, the risk of global pandemics, poverty and the future impact of emerging economies like China and India.

All critically important, of course, but this last area has been a rapidly growing priority for SustainAbility. Indeed, I spent a week in India during August, with Kavita Prakash-Mani, one of our Vice-Presidents, exploring the potential for expanding our operations there (www.johnelkington.com/weblog/blogger.htm, see mid-August entries). A summary of my thoughts on India at the time of the sixtieth anniversary of its Independence can be found at http://www.opendemocracy.net

Kavita and I also explored China in May 2005, the first time I had been in the country (www.johnelkington.com). Last time it was Beijing, with extraordinary events in places like the Temple of Heaven. This time the meeting will focus on “the role the new generation of fast-emerging multinational companies – the New Champions – are playing in substantially changing the global business landscape.”

According to the Forum, participants from 90 countries have already signed up and more than 1,700 participants are expected to take part.” At the core of the “new champions” are a new generation of companies that will fundamentally change the global competitive landscape. “We call them Global Growth Companies,” the Forum says. “These business champions come primarily from rapidly growing emerging markets, such as China and India, but also include fast movers from developed economies.”

Global Growth Companies are businesses that have demonstrated a clear potential to become leaders in the global economy based on such factors as a company’s business model, growth record, leadership and the markets it serves. Some of the typical indicators of these companies are:

• Are expanding outside their traditional boundaries
• Experience strong growth rates
• Have revenues typically between US$ 100 million and US$ 5 billion
• Have demonstrated leadership in a particular industry
• Have an outstanding executive leadership

The diagram below spotlights some of the key themes that will be addressed during the Dalian event. The plan is that I will post a series of blogs as the process evolves. More anon.