Summer Davos pins hope on country’s growth story

The 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also called the Summer Davos Forum, which opened in Tianjin, has attracted more than 1,500 political leaders, businesspeople, and academics from nearly 100 countries and regions, and international organizations.

Given that many participants used the word “fragile” to describe the current world economic situation, the theme, “Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force of the Global Economy”, was apt. The world economy badly needs growth, but where does growth momentum come from? As the world’s second largest economy, all eyes are naturally on China. Over the past decade, China’s economy has grown at an average annual rate of 6.2 percent, contributing more than 30 percent to world economic growth.

WEF President Borge Brende said China’s economy grows faster than the world as a whole and is likely to contribute 36 percent of global growth this year.

A number of other participants believe China’s efficient governance and targeted policy measures will enable its “growth in all sectors”. On the first day of the forum, China issued a road map on its green hydrogen energy development, listing 35 initiatives launched to achieve carbon emissions peaking by 2030.

In 2022, China’s Global Innovation Index ranking rose to the 11th place, ranking first among middleincome economies. As China pursues high-quality development and further implements the innovation-driven development strategy, more new drivers of economic growth will be unleashed.

For global companies, China is not just a “beautiful growth story”, but also a land of win-win opportunities. Despite voices in the West calling for “decoupling” and “de-risking” from China, business representatives at the forum showed that doing so would mean their isolation from “cooperation” and “opportunities” from China. In today’s highly globalized world, lack of development and cooperation poses the real risk. The WEF predicts as much as 7 to 9 percent of global GDP could be lost to “decoupling”.

China is making efforts to open wider to the outside world and let the world share its growth cake.

As China further relaxes its market access, expands institutional opening-up, and strengthens intellectual property protection, various enterprises are expected to receive greater support for development in China. For global companies, the 14th WEF is not only a journey of confidence, but also a journey of consensus and action. As China advances its road to modernization, the world will share more cooperation opportunities.