The 14th World Congress of the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management (IFPSM) will be held in Beijing, September 17-18, under the theme of "Globalization of Economy-Procurement Focus on China", Jack Wagner, general secretary of IFPSM announced in Beijing on April 8. The Congress is jointly sponsored by IFPSM and China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP).

Business leaders and scholars worldwide are watching closely on China, the largest moving and changing country, said Wagner, while Beijing is an ideal place for those concerned with procurement environment.

China is rising as a global procurement center, said Ding Junfa, executive vide-director of CFLP. As a procurement market of the biggest potential and fastest developing speed, China is attracting more and more transnational corporations, for whom, procurement in China has become an essential method to control cost and sharpen competitiveness.

Many transnational corporations have moved their procurement centers to China, or set up procurement offices here, said Ding.

Wal-mart has shifted its global procurement center from Hong Kong to Shenzhen; Carrefour set up its global procurement center in Shanghai, and will establish a string of regional procurement centers in the country; METRO also made Shanghai and Tianjin its supply hubs in north and south China.

According to the organizing committee, Chinese officials to be present at the meeting include commerce minister Bo Xilai, finance vice-minister Xiao Jie, vice-director of the National Development and Reform Commission Ou Xinqian, vice-director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission Huang Shuhe. Giant enterprises such as Wal-mart, Microsoft, IBM, General Motors, Sinopec, Lenovo and Haier will also attend the meeting.

By People's Daily Online