The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum started on Wednesday in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos, bringing together more than 2,000 political and business leaders from around 90 countries and regions.

The five-day meeting's theme is "Shaping the Global Agenda: The Shifting Power Equation."

The following is a brief introduction to the World Economic Forum.

The World Economic Forum was founded in 1971 and is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

The motto of the forum is "entrepreneurship in the global public interest."

Participants of the forum include political and business leaders, entrepreneurs and experts in various fields. They meet annually to discuss economic, bilateral and regional issues.

Members of the forum represent the world's 1,000 leading companies and partners are select member companies who are actively involved in the organization's activities and contribute their expertise and resources.

The forum has been recognized as the top international non-governmental economic forum around the world.

China first attended the forum in 1979.

Source: Xinhua