If you watched Ted Koppel's "The People's Republic of Capitalism" TV series on the Discovery Channel, you'd have heard of Chongqing, a booming industrial hub in southwestern China with substantial automotive and motorcycle production.

Maybe that's why the China Plastics Processing Industry Association is organizing the first annual meeting of its Sustainability Committee in Chongqing with a clear focus on the sustainable use of plastics in the auto industry.

The Oct.22-23 forum will feature speakers from the government, the industry and trade groups. It's interesting that three of the four industry speakers are from American companies: resin supplier Ticona, additives producer Albemarle, and automaker Ford Motor Co. In fact, Albemarle was one of the 10 founding members of CPPIA's sustainability committee, suggesting that U.S. firms are taking an initiative in promoting sustainable growth in China's plastics industry.

Details about the conference can be found here, in Chinese only. Basic info is also in the Plastics News Calendar.

Plastics News Asia Bureau Chief Steve Toloken will be covering the conference from on the ground.