China's emerging cities, led by the booming port city of Dalian, are dynamic, innovative, tech-savvy and hold a vision for sustainable growth, said business and government leaders at the 33rd China Daily CEO Roundtable in Dalian.

The Roundtable, called "Strategic Partnership between Emerging Cities and Entrepreneurs: The Dalian Vision", focused on the growing need for cooperation between cities and businesses in an increasingly globalized world. Dalian embodies this trend and should serve as a guiding light for other emerging Chinese cities, concluded experts at the Roundtable.

"Dalian is a particularly great place to have this discussion about leadership, partnership and government cooperation," said Peter Bowie, CEO of Deloitte China and the Roundtable's co-chair.

Bowie pointed to a World Bank study on investment environment in Chinese cities, based on a survey of 12,000 foreign and domestic investment companies, which found Dalian to be a clear leader.

"As I see it, the next generation of leaders in government and business has many traits in common. They are dynamic, tech-savvy and share an overall focus on improving their organizations and societies," said Zhu Ling, editor-in-chief of China Daily. "Dalian represents the emerging cities of the world. It's a city where we would like our children to live and grow up."

The Roundtable came at the end of the World Economic Forum's Summer Davos meeting held in Dalian from September 6 to 8. The forum, also called the "Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions", focused on the emergence of fast-growing multinational companies, or New Champions, many of which hail from the developing world.

The meeting, a precursor to the WEF's Winter Davos session, brought together business and government leaders from around the globe and was the largest economic gathering of its kind in China.

Wang Jianzhou, CEO of the world's largest telecom operator China Mobile Communications Corp and a mentor to the Young Global Leaders at the forum, said maintaining the feel of the original Davos meet at the Dalian forum was a great achievement.

Ben Verwaayen, CEO of BT and an honorary co-chair of the Roundtable, said cities must not only make themselves livable for families and environmentally friendly, but must also make it known to companies that they have the best possible talent from around the world.

Xia Deren, mayor of Dalian and the Roundtable's keynote speaker, outlined his vision for the city. Four key projects, he said, are under way in Dalian: the development of a modern logistics sector to complement the shipping sector; growing the financial services sector; the development of an information technology center; and lending support to the city's environment and tourism industry.

About 12,000 foreign companies invest in Dalian, 84 of which are among the Fortune 500.

The city's growth rate over the last 10 years has averaged 14 percent, its growth rate last year being 16.5 percent. The city is also focused on environmental protection, with emissions of major pollutants down 12.5 percent and five water treatment facilities lined up over the next five years.

"Summer Davos chose Dalian as a host city not only because it's a growth city, but also because it believes in environmental protection," Xia said.

Yang Yuanqing, chairman of Lenovo Group, said Dalian is an excellent example of emerging cities attracting investors with a unique value proposition to become international service centers in areas like logistics and software outsourcing. "Many cities are saying they want to be China's Bangalore, but success won't come if they just want to be something else."

But emerging cities like Dalian also face challenges ahead, the Roundtable agreed.

MP Bakker, CEO of TNT NV, said the number of Chinese cities with 1.5 million or more people will grow from 45 five years ago to 147 by 2020. This will require an enormous investment in infrastructure and transport to help the cities attract business, he said.

Verwaayen said emerging cities must focus on innovation, globalization and education. To this end, Dalian is focused on developing human resources and fostering talent growth, Xia said. The city has 22 universities with 250,000 students.

Jerry Leamon, global managing partner of Deloitte and an honorary co-chair of the Roundtable, said China's emerging cities should look to California's Silicon Valley as a model.

"Silicon Valley is an example of the emergence of a corporate-friendly government, capital markets and, most importantly, innovation. I see the same thing happening in China today. I see the capital markets rushing in and I see creativity and inspiration."

Nicholas Sallnow-Smith, regional chief executive of Northeast Asia, Standard Chartered PLC, said he sees unprecedented cooperation between cities and business in China today.

"In the past, cities worked toward providing basic services, but the requirement now is for cities and business to cooperate."

By Mitch Moxley and Liu Baijia