The First World Assembly of Jin Merchants will take place at the Taiyuan Coal Transaction Center, Shanxi Province, from August 19 to 20, 2012.

“The assembly is aimed at attracting Jin Merchants from within China as well as overseas to invest in their home-province under the banner of promoting transformation and development in Shanxi Province. Through the means of project-linking and trade negotiations, it is possible to preserve abundant private capital. At the same time, their talent, ideas, advanced technologies and management experience could also be of great importance to Shanxi. The fruits of the province’s development can be shared both by out-of-town Jin merchants and locals,” said Nie Chunyu, a member of the Shanxi Provincial Party Standing Committee and director of the United Front Work Department of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee. Shanxi Province’s gross domestic product surpassed the mark of 1,110 billion yuan in 2011 and financial revenues exceeded a whopping 200 billion yuan. The province's overall economic strength has been raised to a higher level and newly emerging industries possess tremendous development potential.

The First World Assembly of Jin Merchants is jointly sponsored by the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee, the National Association of Industry and Commerce, the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas and the Shanxi Provincial Government. The United Front Work Department of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee and the Shanxi Provincial Association of Industry and Commerce are responsible for orchestrating the overall event. With the theme of “New Jin Merchants, New Shanxi, New Leap forward”, the assembly aims to construct a platform for Jin merchants both at home and abroad, and create a high-quality environment for investment. Through this assembly, Shanxi is hoping to absorb more capital, projects, talent and technology. From there onwards, Jin merchants across the globe will be able to shift their focus towards the province, recommend it to the outside world, return and invest in the province.

Shanxi merchants have been engaged in the trade business for a long time. During 500 years from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to the end of Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), Jin merchants emerged as a prominent merchant group in the country and presented themselves as tough competition in the international trade. The assembly is held to carry on the Jin merchant culture, keep its spirit alive and unite the Jin merchants’ strength to recreate brilliant achievements. The assembly is set to attract 1000 attendants, including 850 Jin merchant representatives from within China as well as overseas. It also seeks to introduce projects worth 1 trillion yuan, with 100 key ones. The projects will focus on the circular economy, alternative industries, strategic and newly emerging industries, cultural tourism, modern logistics and on science and technology.