From September 18–20, more than 2,500 business leaders, policy makers and experts from over 111 countries gathered in Tianjin to take part in more than 200 sessions. Under the theme "Shaping Innovative Societies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution," participants discussed how to reconcile the drive to harness new technology and ensure that robust growth and prosperity develops in a way that serves all of society.

During the meeting, the Forum launched the report developed in collaboration with Bain & Company on Digital Transformation: Last year, the private sector spent over $1.2 trillion globally on digital transformation efforts worldwide, yet only 5% of executives are satisfied with the results they are seeing. Figuring out how to transform large legacy companies from analog to digital is one of the primary challenges facing business leaders in most industries today. The research shares findings on the transformation process, drawing upon the experiences of 40 senior executives from across industries.

Between June 27-29, 2017, over 2,000 participants from more than 80 countries convened in Dalian for the Annual Meeting of the New Champions. Under the theme "Achieving Inclusive Growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution", the meeting examined the potential for innovation, science and technology to create economies that serve all sectors of society.

Weiwen Han, managing partner of Bain's Greater China operations, moderated the session on "The Smart City Revolution", which discussed the most promising policies, business models and technologies that could dramatically shrink environmental pressures while improving life quality and economic competitiveness.

In 2016, under the theme of "The Fourth Industrial Revolution and its Transformational Impact", some 1,700 leaders representing the next generation of fast-growing enterprises shaping the future of business and society, as well as leaders from major multinationals, gathered in Tianjin (PRC) for the 10th Annual Meeting of the New Champions on science, technology and innovation from June 26-28, 2016.

Kevin Meehan facilitated a discussion on "The Governance of Progress". The discussion revolved around governance models and strategies that will maximize the benefit to society, as technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution become integral to people's lives.

Bain was also represented by the senior partners of Bain Greater China, Jason Ding, Michael Thorneman and Raymond Tsang.

In 2015, the World Economic Forum hosted the ninth Annual Meeting of the New Champions, its global meeting on innovation, science and technology, from September 9-11, 2015 in Dalian, China. During the "Summer Davos," members, partners and all of the Forum's future-oriented communities convened to explore innovative and entrepreneurial responses to the new growth challenge under the umbrella theme "Charting a New Course for Growth."

A team of Bain partners joined the discussions in private sessions on the role of technology in the 21st century. Learn more about the New Champions.

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the New Champions took place on September 10-12, 2014 in Tianjin, China. With "Creating Value through Innovation" as the overarching theme, key dimensions of the meeting included:

• Innovative capital structures
• Risk mitigation instruments
• Project identification and preparation

Bain & Company partner and managing director for Greater China Michael Thorneman participated as a panelist on the session "Gender Advantage," discussing how improved gender parity is boosting competitiveness in emerging markets. Watch the webcast on the WEF website.

In addition, as part of Bain's engagement in the Future of Healthy Industry Project, Head of Bain's Healthcare Practice EMEA Norbert Hueltenschmidt co-moderated this year’s Health Summit, held concurrently with the AMNC.

Watch Norbert Hueltenschmidt's interview on 'China's healthcare: opportunity or crisis?' on BBC.com.

The 2013 Annual Meeting of the New Champions took place September 11-13, 2013 in Dalian, China.

Michael Thorneman participated as a panelist on the topic of "Organizing a Transformation". The session asked the question: How can a large and complex organization become more agile and resilient? The dimensions addressed were: adopting an intrapreneurial mindset, rethinking governance models, and transforming operations & processes.

Also at the 2013 meeting, Gerry Mattios, a principal in Bain & Company’s Beijing office, facilitated a private workshop on Enabling Trade.