Summer Davos illuminates solutions for a fragile global economy

BEIJING, July 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from Beijing Review: The National Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin, which hosted the 2025 Summer Davos forum on June 24-26, is powered by rooftop solar panels. According to the State Grid Corp. of China, this edition of the forum achieved a 100-percent green power supply for its venues, utilizing a total of 800,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity, equivalent to saving about 300 tons of standard coal and cutting approximately 600 tons of carbon emissions.

The venue also utilizes sponge city technologies that integrate natural processes and distributed storage to manage storm water. Additionally, hundreds of new-energy vehicles facilitated green transportation for forum participants.

These achievements embody China's advancement in one of the key areas spotlighted by the global gathering—new energy and materials.

The 2025 Summer Davos, officially known as the 16th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), was themed Entrepreneurship for a New Era. Around 1,800 participants from over 90 countries and regions explored how entrepreneurship and emerging technologies can boost global economic growth amid challenges.

According to the WEF, the world is undergoing a fundamental economic transformation as geopolitics, technology, sustainability and demographic changes reshape traditional growth engines. Complex and shared challenges in development and climate change require urgent cooperation, innovative thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Unlike the annual WEF meeting held in Davos, Switzerland, every January, the Summer Davos, established in 2007 through a collaboration between the WEF and China, places greater emphasis on the future of business and technological advancement. What began as an initiative to spotlight emerging economies and future-oriented businesses has grown into a global platform for economic dialogue.

Tong Jiadong, a professor of international trade at the School of Economics, Nankai University in Tianjin, who serves as the long-term Chinese agenda research leader for the Tianjin Summer Davos, said the forum has turned into an event facilitating international exchange and cooperation, forecasting global economic growth trends and identifying key opportunities for expansion in the global economy.

In his speech at the opening plenary of the 2025 Summer Davos on June 25, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said China is developing itself into a super-sized consumption powerhouse on the solid foundation of a manufacturing powerhouse, and it will continue to deepen its integration into and connectivity with the global market.

China is "probably the most remarkable story of transformation" in recent decades, according to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a session of the forum. He urged countries to seek understanding and remain engaged with China, rather than isolate it.

In 2024, China's GDP grew 5 percent year on year to more than 134 trillion yuan ($18.82 trillion), contributing about 30 percent to global economic growth, with the country targeting a growth rate of around 5 percent in 2025.

As a major trading partner for over 150 countries and regions, China saw its total goods imports and exports increase by 2.5 percent year on year in the first five months of 2025. The country also saw a surge in global visitors boosted by visa-free entry and transit policies.

A recent World Bank report indicated that China's economy maintained robust growth momentum in early 2025, supported by proactive monetary and fiscal policies to counter global trade uncertainties. U.S. financial institutions JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have also revised their growth forecasts of China's economic growth upward.

Innovation has been a key driver of China's economic growth. Ranking second globally, China's research and development expenditure increased by 8.3 percent year on year in 2024. The country has seen booming innovations and applications of AI and robotics.

China has rolled out a series of measures to attract foreign investment and improve the business environment. In 2024, 59,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in China, up 9.9 percent year on year. The country attracted an annual overseas investment of over 1 trillion yuan ($139 billion) for three consecutive years from 2021 to 2023.

According to the WEF, the global growth outlook has reached its lowest point in decades. Boosting global cooperation requires greater commitment and creativity than ever before.

The international economic and trade landscape is undergoing a profound change. The global community needs to safeguard free trade and multilateralism, and promote the stable development of the world economy, Li said.

China's economy, with steady growth, will provide strong support for the recovery of the world economy. It will keep improving the business environment for global businesses to survive and thrive in the Chinese market, he added.

SOURCE Beijing Review