Dalian forum in June will target innovation

Innovation and sustainability will be high on the agenda at the summer meeting of the World Economic Forum in Dalian, according to the city’s government.

The city has started preparing for the June 27-29 meeting, also known as the Annual Meeting of the New Champions.

Lu Lin, Dalian’s deputy mayor, said the meeting would “highlight the idea of innovation and sustainability with strong Chinese characteristics and international appeal”.

The World Economic Forum, the Swiss nonprofit foundation behind the annual meeting in Davos, has held its summer meeting in China annually since 2007, alternating between Dalian and Tianjin.

The summer events, one of WEF’s series of regional meetings, attract more than 1,500 participants, many from emerging countries such as India, Russia, Mexico, and Brazil as well as major developed countries.

One highlight is the participation of the Chinese premier, who has delivered the keynote speech at each annual meeting.

The summer meeting will continue to serve as “a true global experience that addresses today’s intertwined global challenges — economic, political, societal and environmental”, according to the WEF website.

Innovation, a key topic at previous WEF summer meetings in China, is also likely to dominate the agenda at the Dalian meeting in June.

“The country’s innovation drive has led to a fourfold increase in the number of private-sector companies in the past 10 years. These firms are increasingly moving from imitation to innovation. They are also expanding the domestic market into the global marketplace,” said David Aikman, chief representative officer for China at the World Economic Forum.

The Dalian meeting also will draw on the theme of the Davos meeting, with its focus on leadership.

“Responsive and responsible leadership entails a deeper commitment to inclusive development and equitable growth, both nationally and globally. It also involves working rapidly to close generational divides by exercising shared stewardship of those systems that are critical to our prosperity,” the WEF said in a news release.