Touching the Pulse of the Global Economy: "Spoilers" and Diverse Development Trends - Overview of Hot Spots at the Summer Davos Forum in 2023 | Global | Trends

On the banks of the Haihe River and the Bohai Sea. After four years, the Summer Davos Forum from Switzerland resumed on June 27th in Tianjin, China. More than 1500 political and business elites from nearly 100 countries and regions around the world have engaged in discussions on hot topics related to global economy, technology, environment, and more.

How will the world respond to the challenges of the post pandemic era? During the forum, Xinhua News Agency reporters interviewed multiple attendees and experts, showcasing the intellectual feast of spoilers.

This is a scene taken on June 27th at the opening ceremony of the 2023 New Leaders Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum.

What is the trend of the global economy?

Looking back at the past few years, the century long pandemic and century long changes have intertwined and overlapped. The COVID-19 has repeatedly delayed around the world. Unilateralism, protectionism and anti globalization trends have spread, global problems have intensified, and local conflicts have frequently occurred. The new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is deepening, and humanity's pursuit of peace and development has never stopped. What are the highlights of this forum held in this context? How is it different from previous editions? What concerns does the issue reflect in the world?

"I have confidence in economic development," said Tan Yuanjiang, Vice President of Manbang Group, a digital freight company, in an interview before the conference.

On June 27th, World Economic Forum President Schwab delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2023 New Leaders Conference.

Confidence comes from a brilliant piece of data. In the first quarter of this year, Manbang Group's revenue was 1.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.7%, and 30.3 million orders were completed, a year-on-year increase of 20.5%. "Transportation is the lifeblood of economic development. With more orders, the economy becomes more active," said Tan Yuanjiang.

On June 27th, a guest car passed by the forum venue.

Regarding this, Guo Zhen, the attending guest and Deputy General Manager of the Marketing Center of China Electric Power Construction Ecological Environment Group Co., Ltd., said, "Currently, the speed and degree of economic recovery vary among countries, and some countries still face challenges. Economic recovery also depends on the recovery of global trade and international cooperation, which requires more efforts."

"In recent years, China has held multiple exhibitions and forums to promote the recovery of international trade and investment." Tong Jiadong, a member of the Davos Economic Globalization Governance Council, believes that China is expected to make greater contributions to the global economic recovery.

Generative Artificial Intelligence: Is it an enemy or a friend?

Faced with the emergence of generative artificial intelligence products, hopes and concerns arise one after another. This year's Davos Forum also discussed topics such as "Generative Artificial Intelligence: Is It Enemy or Friend?", "Deep Discussion on the Fourth Industrial Revolution", and "The Disrupted Education Industry.".

Faced with the booming development of generative artificial intelligence, Gong Ke, the attending guest and Executive Director of the China New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy Research Institute, believes that generative artificial intelligence provides new momentum for the intelligentization of various industries, and also puts forward new requirements for data, algorithms, computing power, network foundation, etc.

"We should make reasonable use of regulations to deal with the risks and impacts brought by artificial intelligence," said Zhang Yi, a attending guest and senior partner of King&Wood Law Firm. It is necessary to form a governance framework and standard norms with broad consensus through the law, and create a more dynamic development environment under its guidance.

"Compared to a 'one size fits all' governance approach, proposing corresponding regulatory requirements based on different risk levels may be more targeted," said Zhang Yi.

Global Carbon Market: Next Economic Growth Point?

On June 27th, attendees entered the forum venue.

At this summer's Davos Forum, leaders from multinational corporations, foundations, and environmental agencies have turned their attention to the carbon market.

Tan Yuanjiang introduced that Manbang Group was the first to launch a "personal carbon account" in the road freight industry, and more than 3000 truck drivers nationwide have already opened accounts. According to calculations, in the past month since its launch, the first batch of "carbon account" drivers have been able to reduce emissions by an average of 0.15 tons per month.

The active carbon market allows market entities to trade "carbon" for "gold". For example, as a listed power company that benefited greatly from the national carbon emission trading market last year, Huaneng International Power Co., Ltd. generated approximately 478 million yuan in revenue from selling carbon emission quotas in 2022, spent approximately 104 million yuan on purchasing carbon emission quotas, and achieved a net profit of 374 million yuan.

The carbon market in China is constantly growing. Data shows that as of the end of May 2022, the cumulative total transaction volume of carbon emission quotas in the national carbon market is about 235 million tons, with a transaction amount of about 10.787 billion yuan.

On June 27th, participants took a group photo before entering the forum venue.

Some institutions predict that by 2030, the voluntary carbon market will reach a scale of 40 billion US dollars. Carbon trading will become a new profit point for enterprises and gain increasing recognition.

Green development: How to exert internal and external driving forces?

Recently, the North China region has experienced high temperatures, with some cities experiencing temperatures exceeding historical extremes. Extreme weather is frequent, and green development is becoming increasingly urgent.

In fact, facing the increasingly severe situation, many enterprises are not ready to face the challenges brought by the climate to the economy. A research report shows that although most companies are starting to assess climate risks, less than half of them are developing risk response plans.

In this context, how to promote the transformation of global green development has become a hot topic of discussion at this forum.

At the micro level, Guo Zhen believes that there is a certain degree of mismatch and adaptation between existing financial instruments and future green industry investment. It is necessary to innovate green development investment and financing models through measures such as taxation, subsidies, and finance. For example, developing diversified and multi-level financial markets, and focusing on improving the financing support of the financial system for the transformation and development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

On a macro level, Ma Jun, the attending guest and director of the Public Environment Research Center, stated that in order to further reduce pollution, carbon emissions, and promote green development, countries should strengthen cooperation in areas such as green supply chains, green finance, and addressing climate change.

"China is developing rapidly in the fields of new energy such as solar and wind energy, and is expected to achieve the relevant goals originally set for 2030 five years ahead of schedule." Ma Jun said, "China maintains a strong momentum in promoting green and low-carbon development, which is of positive significance for strengthening global climate governance."

"The Belt and Road": What new opportunities will there be in the next 10 years?

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the the Belt and Road Initiative. At this summer's Davos Forum, many participating enterprises actively participated in and witnessed the global development of the "the Belt and Road" initiative.

Data shows that in the past 10 years, the initiative has driven nearly a trillion US dollars in investment, formed over 3000 cooperative projects, created 420000 jobs for countries along the route, and lifted nearly 40 million people out of poverty.

In recent years, relying on the technical accumulation in the field of automobile modification and customization services, Tianjin Craftsman Auto Technology Co., Ltd. has participated in the relevant automobile product projects along the "the Belt and Road" for many times, expanding the space for enterprise growth.

"As China's automobile exports to countries along the the Belt and Road, enterprises in the entire industrial chain will enjoy great development," said Feng Xiaotong, founder of Craftsman School.

Tianjin Port is the sea land intersection of the "the Belt and Road". In the direction of the "the Belt and Road", Tianjin Port has added 3 container routes since this year. Liu Xin, the route development manager of the business department of Tianjin Port Co., Ltd., introduced that from January to April this year, the ASEAN import and export value-added of Tianjin Port reached 50.3%.

A participant believed that, facing the future, the "the Belt and Road" will increasingly integrate policy communication, facilities connectivity, smooth trade, financial integration, and people to people connectivity into specific cooperation projects. Among them, "small and beautiful" projects such as people's livelihood, environmental protection, poverty alleviation, and cultural exchanges will have greater development space.