Why does Summer Davos take root in China?, Depth | The World Is So Big Tianjin, China | Summer Davos
In the midsummer season, on the coast of the Bohai Sea, starting tomorrow, the 14th Annual Conference of New Leaders of the World Economic Forum will be held in Tianjin, attracting approximately 1500 elites and innovators from nearly 100 countries from all walks of life to participate.
This is the offline restart of the Summer Davos Forum after four years since 2019. At a time when the world economy is still facing multiple risks, what will be the highlights of this economic gathering of "big shots"? What kind of signal is transmitted? What kind of sparks of thought are generated by collisions?
Standing at the crossroads
The famous Davos Forum, also known as the World Economic Forum, began in 1971. It was named after the annual meeting held in the Swiss ski resort of Davos every winter, dedicated to promoting global public-private sector cooperation and discussing the world's most pressing issues.
Since 2007, every summer, the World Economic Forum has held the New Leaders Conference in China, providing a learning and exchange platform for global growth enterprises. It is also known as Summer Davos because it complements Winter Davos.
"The World Economic Forum has two pillars, one is Winter Davos and the other is Summer Davos," said World Economic Forum founder Schwab.
This year, with the gradual easing of the COVID-19, the Davos Forum returned to its pre epidemic level, and the summer annual meeting was also restarted offline for the first time since 2019. What are the similarities and differences in form, content, and many other aspects compared to the past?
Taking into account various perspectives, the main difference of this annual conference compared to four years ago is that the world economic situation has undergone significant changes.
Fu Mengzi, a researcher at the China Institute of Modern International Relations, mentioned three observation directions: economic growth, globalization, and international cooperation.
In terms of growth, three years after the COVID-19 epidemic, the flow of global factors of production has been greatly restricted, investment and trade have declined, and the world economy is still in the process of recovery. There are positive aspects to the future, but there are still uncertain factors.
In terms of globalization, the process has encountered setbacks and the pace has significantly slowed down; The trend of "anti globalization" continues to develop and gradually forms a parallel trend.
In terms of international cooperation, against the backdrop of intensified competition among major powers, economic relations between countries are affected to a certain extent. In international cooperation, there are many political and security issues that were not prominent in the past, and the trend towards security in economic issues is becoming increasingly apparent. Some countries are forcefully promoting decoupling and breaking the chain, artificially building walls and barriers, making the international economic environment and atmosphere more severe.
"Facing a divided world, whether to compete in a divided world or seek win-win results in a cooperative world? We are at a crossroads. How to promote the process of economic recovery? The world needs new internal driving forces." Fu Mengzi pointed out that this is also a question that the Summer Davos Forum needs to consider.
Zhang Jun, a senior professor of humanities at Fudan University and dean of the School of Economics, has participated in the Winter Davos Forum. He pointed out that compared to the Winter Davos, the Summer Conference pays more attention to developing economies and has more exploratory topics, which is in line with the positioning of the New Leaders Conference. However, in recent years, influenced by geopolitical factors, some commonly accepted concepts, such as the world moving towards deep integration and globalization, are undergoing changes. The international political atmosphere has become more tense.
Of course, compared to the past, this year's annual meeting has also shown some continuity.
For example, with a gathering of "big shots" and a large scale of attendees.
It is reported that this annual conference has attracted about 1500 leading figures in the public and private sectors from nearly 100 countries and regions, including foreign politicians, leaders of international organizations, well-known corporate executives, and innovators in various fields.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the opening ceremony of the forum and deliver a keynote speech. He will hold talks with the Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Schwab, as well as the Prime Ministers of Barbados, Mongolia, New Zealand, and Vietnam. He will also engage in dialogue and exchanges with people from the global business, finance, think tanks, and media sectors.
For example, focusing on high-tech and building an open and inclusive discussion platform for all parties.
The official website of the World Economic Forum shows that on the first day of the annual meeting, there was a live conference titled "Top 10 Emerging Technologies in 2023", which netizens from various countries can watch online.
Tightly grasping urgent challenges
Looking back four years ago, the previous Summer Davos Forum had the theme of "Leadership 4.0: The Path to Success in the New Era of Globalization", focusing on how to empower the new era of globalization with leadership guided by technology. The overall tone was relatively optimistic.
Time has changed, and the theme of this year's annual conference is "Entrepreneurial Spirit: The Driving Force of the World Economy". It includes six topics and more than 170 sub forums, including restarting growth, China in the global context, energy transformation and material supply, consumption trends in the post pandemic era, and protecting nature and climate and deploying innovation; We will also focus on exploring innovative technologies that are changing the world, such as generative artificial intelligence and plant sensors.
The public opinion believes that the above-mentioned themes and topics are targeted, focusing not only on enterprises and entrepreneurs as innovative entities, but also closely following the forefront development trends and major risks and challenges of the world economy, and calling for innovation and cooperation to the international community.
Specifically, among the six themes, restarting growth, energy transformation, and protecting nature and climate are all the most pressing issues facing the world; The consumption trend in the post pandemic era is a common issue in the economic recovery of various countries, with opportunities and challenges coexisting; In the global context, China is a routine program in summer Davos, hoping to deepen our understanding of China.
"The Summer Davos Forum is mainly aimed at some growth oriented enterprises emerging in the wave of globalization. They have vitality, competitiveness, and development potential, representing emerging forces in the changing world economic landscape and the hope of global economic growth. From the perspective of agenda setting, the annual meeting combines innovation and enterprises, aiming to find a bright spot and provide a valuable driving force for the confused and confused world economic growth pattern." Fu Mengzi pointed out.
"The influence and attractiveness of the Davos Forum have always been due to its forward-looking topic selection, continuous attention to global hotspots, and the enormous reputation it has accumulated." Zhang Jun pointed out that as early as the 1970s, forum related reports had discussed issues such as growth limits, energy sources, and the environment. This year's annual conference focuses on topics such as entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial spirit, consumption trends, and climate change, continuing the tradition of tracking hot topics and also aligning with the main focus of China's economic development.
Showcasing China's confidence
As the annual conference is about to open, as the host of the Summer Davos Forum, China's voice has received much attention.
Since the World Economic Forum established its first overseas representative office in Beijing in 2006 and designated China as the host country for the New Leaders Annual Conference, the Summer Conference has been held 13 times, and cooperation between the two sides has gradually improved.
Why does the Davos Forum place so much importance on China, as curious by the outside world? What does it bring to China and the world?
Some comments suggest that China's high expectations stem from four factors: development speed, depth of reform, breadth of openness, and the temperature of participation in global governance.
The speed, depth, and breadth are reflected in the fact that as the world's second-largest economy, China's economy maintains rapid growth and has launched several major measures such as further opening up the market, expanding imports, and improving the business environment, bringing dividends to global economic growth. Despite facing external risks and challenges, the large size of the Chinese market, high supply chain efficiency, and long-term development potential have attracted attention.
The temperature is reflected in China's advocacy of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, which provides ideological nourishment for promoting more open, inclusive, inclusive, balanced, and win-win economic globalization, and also serves as a key to solving global governance problems and continuously advancing globalization.
Therefore, multinational corporations and global investors "vote with their feet" to express confidence in the Chinese economy.
"At present, there are millions of foreign-funded enterprises worldwide investing in China, thousands of multinational corporations' regional headquarters in China, and hundreds of Fortune Global 500 foreign-funded institutions conducting research and development in China. These are all concentrated outbreaks of the vitality of innovative enterprises on Chinese soil, which are worthy of global attention and cherish." Fu Mengzi pointed out.
Fu Mengzi interprets the forum's emphasis on China from two clues: time and space.
In terms of time, since 2007, the process of the world economic center shifting eastward has further accelerated. The forum will permanently establish Davos in China during the summer, aiming to bring it closer to the forefront of world economic development, leverage the opportunities and potential of China's huge market, attract elites from all walks of life around the world to explore cutting-edge issues in the world economy, focus on the development characteristics of China's economy at different stages, engage in brainstorming, and grasp the pulse of the times.
After the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the direction of building Chinese path to modernization has become clearer. Today, as China strives to achieve high-quality development and high-level opening up, emerging growth enterprises worldwide need to pay more attention to the changes in the Chinese economy and engage in more thinking, such as where the focus of high-quality development lies and where high-level opening up manifests.
In addition, after three years of epidemic, China's industrial chain is shifting towards the mid to high end in the process of reshaping. The value chain pattern represented by the Chinese market, with diverse orientations and layouts, also gives hope to enterprises from various countries.
In terms of space, Fu Mengzi pointed out that unlike the consumption oriented economic model of old capitalist countries, East Asian economies represented by China are mainly focused on manufacturing, and their focus is also more extensive. This aligns with the broad focus of the Summer Davos Forum. As an economic United Nations, Summer Davos not only focuses on the speed of economic development, but also involves many issues such as fairness and justice, poverty, debt, climate, etc.
In addition, the different levels of development of the Chinese economy also provide diverse perspectives for people from all walks of life to analyze the world economic situation and engage in dialogue and discussion.
"From a strategic perspective, the entry and rooting of the Davos Forum into China is a strategic judgment of its influence on China's future." Zhang Jun pointed out that around 2007, with China's rapid development, it received increasing global attention. As a highly influential international civil forum, Davos has chosen China as the host of the Summer Conference, which is also a recognition of China's rise and importance.
In terms of significance, Zhang Jun believes that compared to providing investment and trade opportunities for Chinese enterprises, what is more important is that summer Davos can attract more international people to come to China and better understand China through communication. Like platforms such as the Boao Forum and the China Development Forum, it has gradually become an important window for global people to understand the economic situation in China, and also serves as a platform for entrepreneurs from various countries to explore the Chinese market.
