There is no shortage of so-called prophets who claim to be able to predict the future.

But a major summit held Friday in Beijing helped clear the mist around the current economic situation, offering insightful analysis and helpful advice from outstanding entrepreneurs and scholars.

Named as the Next Two Decades - Enterprises Strategy Beijing Summit, it is run by the Organizing Committee of the sixth China Beijing International High-tech Expo at the China World Hotel.

Nearly all the speeches and lectures focused on what the future holds for Chinese enterprises and multinational companies.

Some provided thoughts and ideas on economic outlooks and corporate strategies for enterprises both at home and abroad.

Others brought to the summit theiru, president of China Putian, said in his lecture on enterprises rules for winning the future.

But all the summit participants admitted it was hard predicting the future in China.

"This is a topic that needs great imagination and passion," Ouyang Zhongmou, president of China Putian, said in his lecture on enterprises' rules for winning the future.

"The next 20 years are approaching much quicker than we expected. Enterprises will encounter a more complex environment in the coming 20 years," he said.

Furthermore, he said it was essential for Chinese firms to strengthen their internal efficiency and enhance their capabilities.

Hisao Yoshimura, chairman of the board of Nikkei Business Publication, analyzed the pros and cons of the Chinese market in his speech on Merits and drawbacks of entering China for Japanese companies.

He concluded Japanese companies had gained much more than they lost in recent decades by investing and doing business in China.

He also outlined seven tips on how Japanese companies could compete with their Chinese counterparts.

"Some Japanese companies, motivated by the momentum of their Chinese counterparts, are stepping up their efforts to improve their competitiveness," said Yoshimura.

He said Japanese companies should recruit excellent engineers from around the world, offer added value, and create products with short life cycles to stay ahead of their competitors.

Fan Gang, a famous Chinese economist, delivered a speech on ways Chinese enterprises can enter the international market.

To the audience's surprise, he did not focus on how to break into the lucrative global market which many ambitious Chinese entrepreneurs are hungering after.

On the contrary, he advised big Chinese enterprises to pay more attention to the domestic market: "China's internal market has become a very, very important part of the international market. We cannot ignore it when talking about the global market."

In fact, Fan said it was crucial to Chinese enterprises' success to time their entry into the global market properly.

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