China pays serious attention to Davos for more stable world order

A man walks at the main entrance of the congress center where the World Economic Forum takes place in Davos, Switzerland, in this file photo taken on Jan 18, 2016. [Photo/IC]

The Chinese ambassador to Geneva informed the public that Xi’s first foreign visit in 2017 signifies China’s effort for a more stable world order of economy and politics, using the World Economic Forum as an important platform to convey this message. Xi will deliver a speech at the conference to share his vision of and China’s approach to reversing the anti-globalization sentiment prevailing in many parts of the world in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Brexit, Trump’s succession to Obama as the new US president and the possibility that Italy and some other EU member states may contemplate leaving the Euro zone, have cast doubt and uncertainty about the future order of international trade, investment and foreign relation.

Domestically, China faces many internal and external challenges, and the rest of the world is anxious to know whether China will be able to sustain its current level of economic growth and continue to be a potent engine of world economic growth.

The annual World Economic Forum held in Davos has a history of more than four decades and China’s participation is only a recent phenomenon coinciding with its resurgence as an economic and business superpower in the 21stcentury.

In the new century, China has paid more attention to the forum at Davos. Many Chinese top leaders, including former and current premiers, have attended and delivered speeches at the forum, but the visit of Xi this year is of particular importance because of his status as China’s core leader.

Since he became the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and the president of China, Xi has been praised for his determination to clean the Party and political system through a radical and relentless anti-corruption campaign.

On the economic front, Xi has abandoned the idea of fast growth at the expense of the environment with cheap labor and low technology. He emphasizes social equality and justice as his top policy goals as reflected by his determination to eliminate absolute poverty in China by 2020.

Internationally, Xi has actively promoted the One Belt and One Road Initiative since 2013, aiming to attain mutual benefits and share responsibilities for all the countries along the belt and the road. In the last two years, China has invested abroad far more than it has absorbed foreign capital, showing that the country is no longer a poor developing nation, but a prosperous middle-high income economy which is now an indispensable growth engine of the world economy.

The main theme of the 2017 Davos annual World Economic Forum is “responsive and the responsible leadership”. It reflects the current complexity and difficulty of world economic and political order.

The world financial crisis starting from the US in 2007 has caused huge difficulty to many countries which are still struggling to recover from the crisis. Some countries, including the US and other western economic powers, may have blamed globalization and free trade for their economic downturn, but in reality and sincerity, it is free trade and globalization that have benefited them the most in recent history.