A bird's eye view of Chengdu. [China Daily]

In 2008, when Chen Xiaoming was picking up a head of a Fortune Global 500 company from the airport, he was surprised at the contents of the man's suitcase - instant noodles, bottled water and candles.

Chen, who at the time was the deputy head of the auto industry investment service administration of the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, recalls that the executive, a first-time visitor, had heard rumors that the city suffered frequent shortages of water and electricity.

The anecdote shows how little Chengdu was known around the world at the time. But five years later, now that the city is a rising economic star with an international profile, any business leader worth his salt would be embarrassed to make the same mistake.

The city's growing economic clout is why Fortune Magazine selected Chengdu to be the host city of the 12th Fortune Global Forum, which is to be held from June 6 to 8. It marks the first time that the prestigious business meeting has been held in China's historically underdeveloped western region.

The decision also shows the increasing importance of Chengdu, which Fortune has selected as one of the world's best new cities for global business in the world economy.

Chengdu's GDP last year totaled 813.89 billion yuan ($130.7 billion), making the inland city the third-largest economy among China's all 15 deputy provincial level cities.

It was just 390.1 billion yuan in 2008, the year when the world slipped into financial crisis. But Chengdu managed to achieve rapid economic expansion annually over the past five years amid global economic turmoil and slower growth nationwide.

The city's total trade volume with foreign countries reached $47.54 billion in 2012, up 25.5 percent compared to the year before.

Per capita disposable income rose 13.6 percent to 27,194 yuan, greatly outpacing inflation, which was 3 percent last year, according to official figures.

The gap between rural and urban incomes has also narrowed gradually in the last decade. Rural incomes were at 37.6 percent the level of urban incomes in 2002, and by last year, that figure had risen to 41.5 percent. Roughly 35 percent of Chengdu's 14 million residents are rural, and their average net income per capita grew by 14.1 percent to 11,301 yuan in 2012.

Deng Ling, a professor on regional economy at Sichuan University, points out that developing a comprehensive model of economic growth rather than depending on any single sector is the key to Chengdu's success amid the global economic turmoil.

"Like Shanghai, Chengdu managed to transform from the old industrial base it was (before the opening-up and reform) into a comprehensive economy. It's not just a center for modern manufacturing but also one for finance, business and trade, logistics, culture and tourism," she said.

Deng said Chengdu cannot rely on overseas trade like coastal cities do, which is why domestic demand is the key contributor to Chengdu's rise.

She also added that Chengdu, compared to many other Chinese cities, has been more open and international, making it more attractive to foreign firms.

With 234 of the Fortune Global 500 companies represented, Chengdu is indeed the most popular investment destination in western China. Its actually utilized foreign capital in 2012 totaled $8.59 billion, ranking highest among cities in western China.

It is currently the only inland Chinese city that appears in the 2011 and 2012 "Annual Top 10 Best Foreign Investment Strategy Cities in Asia and the Pacific Region" published by UK newspaper the Financial Times.

Andy Serwer, Fortune magazine's managing editor, has called Chengdu "a dynamic magnet for multinational companies".

"Chengdu is the ideal location and a perfect city for the event thanks to a number of attributes: its ability to attract multinationals, its 15 percent GDP growth as well as its advantages in transportation, education and resources," he said.

Chengdu has attracted famous companies from all over the world, including shipping and oil conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk Group, consultancy firm Accenture, delivery service provider DHL Express, e-commerce giant Amazon and cement company Lafarge.

Housing a total of 60 banks and 69 insurance companies, the city has the highest concentration of financial services in central and western China. It has 14 foreign banks and 15 foreign-funded insurance companies, which is also more than any of its peers in the region.