[Photo via Beijing Daily]

The 2026 Beijing CBD Forum Annual Conference (the "Conference" for short) kicked off on June 15 and ran for three days. The annual theme of this year's forum is "Opening Up and New Quality: Global Shifts and China's New Chapter". The Conference itself comprised the Opening Ceremony and the Beijing CBD Multinational Corporations Conference, six special sessions, four flagship sub-events, and other supporting sub-events, with parallel venues set in London, Dubai, and Seoul. Nearly 10,000 guests from 30 countries and regions around the world attended the Conference, with more than 50 percent of the guests delivering speeches being international guests.

During the Conference, an online platform for integrated overseas business services was launched, and the offline ChaoGlobal Empowerment Center was officially inaugurated. The online platform aggregates country and region-specific guides, information on policies and laws, guidelines on financial and tax services, and information on the events related to enterprises' overseas expansion, serving as an all-round information portal covering the entire overseas expansion process and all chains. ChaoGlobal Empowerment Center, relying on the CBD Lounge (Topnew Tower) and the Beijing International Science and Technology Cooperation Base (Wangjing Pioneer PARK), provides enterprises with comprehensive services, including guidance on filing for overseas investments, risk management, and professional resource matching.

The "Ten Major Initiatives to Improve Beijing's Business Environment" were also unveiled on-site, aimed at optimizing services and boosting development across three key areas. First, improving the efficiency of government services and streamlining procedures. Second, improving registration standards, providing pre-registration guidance on compliance, and optimizing the online business environment. Third, deepening reforms, expanding application scenarios of the "Credit+" program, implementing "full-chain empowerment" for industrial development, and facilitating cross-border/boundary trade to help enterprises expand into overseas markets. This year, numerous companies have newly settled in the Beijing CBD.

Several international exchange sub-events were held for the forum, including the Beijing CBD Multinational Corporations Conference and a roundtable dialogue with foreign diplomatic envoys to China. Senior executives from multinational corporations expressed their long-term confidence in the Chinese market.

Oliver Oehms, Chief Representative of the AHK Beijing and Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China for Northern China and Northeastern China, stated that the Chinese market remains a "stable anchor" in German companies' global industry chains, with more than 60 percent of German firms in China planning to maintain or scale up their investments. Nader Al-Arfaj, Managing Director of Aramco China, noted that the new quality productive forces are the focal points of China during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, which have created new opportunities for international cooperation and foreign investments. Al-Arfaj further commented that Beijing possesses unique advantages in channeling innovation endeavors with industrial implementation, and that Chaoyang District is poised to become a key engine for China's new quality productive forces.

The Conference also unveiled the achievements related to the international cooperation and development of the Beijing CBD. These focus on the key concerns of enterprises planning to go global and those having already set up overseas operations, and provide references for achieving high-standard opening-up and high-level international cooperation.

The Memorandum of Understanding on the Global Business Districts' Economic and Trade Collaboration Network was signed. This marks the world's first enterprise and investment collaboration mechanism jointly initiated by business districts from multiple countries. The first batch of signatory members includes the business districts from China, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Oman, among others. Oman's Muscat filled a gap in the Global Business Districts Innovation Club's Middle East network.

The Global Business Districts Youth League, launched for this year's forum, established a world-class platform for young people globally to participate in business district governance, international exchanges, and innovative practices. Additionally, the "Youth Urban Governance Observer Program"—comprising 20 Chinese and foreign students—will provide empirical data and innovative insights from the perspectives of youth to support the governance of business districts worldwide. The Global Business Districts Youth Beijing Initiative was also officially released during the forum's annual meeting.

Major commercial districts across the region rolled out a variety of offerings during the three days, including shopping promotions, art performances, and themed auto shows.

(Source: Publicity Department of the CPC Chaoyang District Committee of Beijing Municipality)