The annual World Economic Forum is in session offline again in Davos, Switzerland, convening global business, political and opinion leaders, including a Chinese delegation led by Vice-Premier Liu He.
The return of the gathering in Davos may be a hallmark of the world emerging from the shadow of the three-year COVID-19 pandemic. But just as the theme of the 2023 event, "Cooperation in a Fragmented World", indicates, the prospects for this year remain gloomy.
Just as the organizers observed, the meeting is taking place as multiple crises are tearing a fragmented world further apart, threatening the collapse of the decades-old global order. Many countries, developed and developing alike, are struggling in the shock waves from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, difficult post-pandemic recovery, broken global supply chains, and a host of regional security hotspot issues, which are amplifying their pains as the geopolitical divide exacerbates confrontation.
As global economic barometers everywhere alert us to a possibly more difficult year ahead, our divided world badly needs the synergy of cooperation for a healthy recovery. That is exactly what the Chinese presence at Davos is all about.
Beijing is fully aware of what Davos stands for as a global platform for sensible global governance, which fits China's increasingly globalist development perspective well. The continuous Chinese presence in Davos since 1979 shows the country's commitment to its opening-up policy and enthusiasm for international cooperation.
We have witnessed the themes of the annual Davos meetings change from "Responsive and Responsible Leadership" in 2017 to "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World" in 2018, all the way to "Working Together, Restoring Trust" in 2022, and now "Cooperation in a Fragmented World". Davos hasn't prevented the widening of the global geopolitical rift. But China has never given up on its efforts to preserve the momentum of economic globalization, which it believes needs to evolve and not be reversed.
In 2017, following his presence at Davos, where he expounded the Chinese outlook on globalization, President Xi Jinping expounded on his signature vision of a community with a shared future for humanity at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva. In September 2021, at the UN General Assembly in New York, the Chinese leader put forward the Global Development Initiative, a global development public good that complements the Belt and Road Initiative.
From Davos to various international platforms, Beijing has persistently called for practicing true multilateralism, safeguarding economic globalization, and preserving global industry and supply chains.
China's reform and opening-up has not only benefited people and businesses at home and abroad, but received renewed emphasis in today's China. The land of opportunities remains ready and willing as ever to embrace the rest of the world.