More than 1,000 businesses and entrepreneurs flocked to the Southern Chinese city of Nanning on Sunday -- known as China’s "green city”. They were attending the 7th annual "green companies summit" organized by the China Entrepreneur Club. A hundred companies, including Alibaba, IBM and the Wanda group, were chosen as this year’s "green companies".

One hundred companies have won recognition this year for their push to go green. That effort, among other things, includes developing sustainable growth, having a sense of social responsibility and concern for the environment. The vice president of the world’s biggest power products manufacturer says going green is the wave of the future.

"Our company strategy in recent years is very much focused on green concepts. We’re working on improving industrial automation, new energy, heat dissipation, and new ways of charging electric cars. Currently these projects account for 30 percent of our production and this figure will keep going up in the future." Daryl Liao, vice president of China’s Delta Electronics, said.

I am in this beautiful green city of Nanning for this year’s green companies summit. I’ve met with big industrial players, environmental companies, and NGOs that are keen to discuss their strategies for sustainable growth on the back of growing concern about China’s environmental issues.

Recent reports reveal that nearly 20 percent of China’s farmland has been contaminated with toxic metals. That situation and the high levels of benzene in the drinking water at Lanzhou in northwestern China created heated discussions on the summit’s first day.

"The water quality is generally very good.....Sewage treatment is about 20 years behind water treatment." Steve Clark, Asia CEO of Suez Environment, said.

IBM drew praise as a green company for its plan to build a smart planet.

"IBM has been a green company......A human being will not be able to comprehend them." Matt Wang, Vice President of IBM China, said.

This year’s summit will also discuss the impact of SOE reforms and diverse ownership and how Chinese banks should face the challenges coming from Internet finance.