An Orangeburg businessman is traveling as part of South Carolina's delegation of business leaders and legislators to Dalian, China for the World Economic Forum's inaugural "New Champions" meeting.

Gov. Mark Sanford was the only U.S. governor invited to attend the meeting, according to a release from his office.

Mike Johnson, president of Cox Industries in Orangeburg, will be part of the governor's delegation.

"I think attending this conference is a real compliment to some of the people who've worked hard on behalf of economic development over the years in this state," Sanford said. "In the global competition for jobs and investment, South Carolina -- like these private sector companies -- has both some real challenges and opportunities in what lies ahead in today's world.

"We believe this trip will result in some real dividends for our state down the road, both as we learn more about how to compete in this new world and in building relationships with global business leaders."

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization, best known for its Davos meeting, which is held each March in Davos, Switzerland. The attendees are the CEOs of the world's top 1,200 companies.

With this meeting, the WEF for the first time is engaging the next tier of businesses ---the New Champions/Global Growth Companies -- that have demonstrated a clear potential to become leaders in the global economy. There will be 1,500 attendees from 80 countries, representing business, academia and world leaders. The typical company represented has revenues between $100 million and $5 billion.

For more information about the World Economic Forum and the Dalian Conference, log on to http://www.weforum.org.

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