To keep up with its population growth, every month China could build a city the size of Houston or Philadelphia.

The Asian country uses two-fifths of the world's cement, has a continuous gross domestic product growth between 9 and 11 percent and is home to more people who earn more than $200,000 a year than the United States.

And the world's most populous country is dedicated to helping its businesses become the largest global name brands and technology companies in the world within the next decade.

"They want their companies to replace or take over all existing ones -- to replace GE, GM, IBM as the world leaders," said Thomas Faranda, CEO of Faranda and Associates of Scottsdale, Ariz. Faranda is a renowned expert on China and will be the keynote speaker during the 2006 West Virginia Manufacturers Summit. The annual event is scheduled for Nov. 2 and 3 at the Charleston Marriott. The West Virginia Manufacturers Association will sponsor the summit. Faranda will speak at 7 p.m. after the opening night dinner and will take part on a panel discussion the next day.

This year's event will focus on China and its effect on the world, national and state economies. That makes it relevant to just about anybody who is in business in the Mountain State, Faranda said.

"Anybody who is in middle management (and up) in any industry should be there," he said. "They need to understand what they're facing."

The growth and changes taking place in China are staggering, Faranda said.

"It's overwhelming even to me," he said. "There's a lot happening there."

During his keynote address, Faranda will detail how Chinese leaders plan to accomplish their goals during the next 10 years.

"They have a 10-step game plan," he said. "I'll talk about what they're doing and why. It's pretty remarkable."

With West Virginia's economy slowly expanding, China looms as a potential threat -- and a potential opportunity, said Terence P. Stewart, managing partner of Stewart & Stewart, a Washington, D.C., law firm specializing in world trade. Stewart also is an expert on China who will speak at 1 p.m. Nov. 3. He also will take part in the panel that morning.

"China has a rapidly growing economy," Stewart said during a telephone interview from Geneva, Switzerland, last week. "There are lots of opportunities for companies who want them."

China, with its estimated 1.3 billion people, is a market that businesses in West Virginia and other states could tap, Stewart said. But along with those opportunities come risks, he said.

"I think there are two ways to look at China," Stewart said. "They are rapidly becoming one of our largest trading partners. They are second only behind Canada, and they are our fourth or fifth largest export destination."

Therefore, businesses based in West Virginia can find a market in China, he said.

"That's where we feel the effect of China -- in the export market," Stewart said. "We need to know how to compete. ... There are quite a few export opportunities for niche products."

But China's burgeoning economy also can hurt West Virginia's economy in some ways, Stewart said. The country often produces goods cheaply and floods U.S. markets, he said.

To help U.S. and West Virginia companies compete in the Chinese market, and to protect them from potentially unfair trading practices, government officials need to become more educated about the Asian country, Stewart said.

"There are structural disadvantages in states like West Virginia and at the federal level," he said.

Nearly every industry in the state is affected in some way by China. Even small businesses that do not offer products on the international markets often must purchase supplies produced in China, Stewart said.

"There will be people in West Virginia that will be totally untouched by this," he said. "They might be temporarily out of the loop. ... Any kinds of supplies come from all over the world, especially throwaway supplies.

"It's impossible to hide from the impact of China. It doesn't matter what state you're in."

That is why the manufacturers association selected China as the topic for this year's summit, said association President Karen Price.

"For many years (the summit) focused on environmental issues because that's where the interest was," she said. "Since then, we've branched out. This is the first one that will focus on trade and doing business with other countries.

"This is an opportunity for West Virginia manufacturers," she said. "We encourage anyone who's in business to register."

Others scheduled to take part in the panel include Robert Aronson, licensing manager for Dow Technology/China UCC UNIPOL Polyofins, David Warner, executive director of the West Virginia Economic Development Authority and QingQing Zhao, director of China projects for the Center for International Programs at Marshall University and director of Appalachians Abroad Teach in China Program.

The agenda and registration form are available on the Internet at capcitycom.com/wvma/china_summitForm.php.