Not long ago, the 2024 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum was held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
At present, many problems such as escalating geopolitical conflicts, sluggish economic growth, soaring debts of many countries, and frequent climate disasters are haunting the world.
In this uncertain environment, Davos looks forward to working together to address these crises and challenges.
Davos. The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an unofficial international organization with the purpose of studying and promoting international economic cooperation and exchanges in the field of world economy.
Its predecessor was the "European Management Forum", which was founded by Klaus Schwab in 1971. In 1987, the "European Management Forum" was renamed the "World Economic Forum".
With the theme of "Rebuilding Trust", nearly 3,000 members of the political, business, academic, international organizations and leaders from more than 120 countries and regions around the world discussed the "opportunities and challenges" for the multiple challenges facing the world today.
"Challenge" is the key word for the next period of time
"Challenge" is the opening session of this Davos Forum.
Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, said in his welcoming remarks:
Today, we are at a unique juncture in human history, facing challenges that are both diverse and profound. ”
As Schwab said, looking at the world, since the beginning of the 20th century, the world has never faced many risks as in the past year: multinational frictions, intensified geopolitical conflicts, rapid development of artificial intelligence that needs to be managed urgently, and frequent ...... extreme weatherAnd what is more important is the tightening of financial conditions and the sluggish economic outlook.
At present, countries** are deeply in debt. It is reported that the debt of various countries has reached an unprecedented 88$1 trillion is almost equivalent to the total annual output of the world economy.
According to reports, the U.S. debt reached a staggering $34 trillion for the first time a few days ago, and just three months ago, the U.S. debt just broke through the $33 trillion mark, and the global debt made the world unable to cope with the crisis.
Of course, in addition to financial risks, the international situation is also mired.
In 2022, a crisis broke out in Ukraine, and in 2023, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict lasted all year round, and the battlefield was at a stalemate.
In April 2023, Sudan, a large country in East Africa, was plunged into a civil war that killed more than 9,000 people.
In October 2023, the situation in the Middle East escalated again, and as of January 18, 2024, since the outbreak of a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Gaza Strip has 240,000 people died.
The situation in the Red Sea also continues to be tense, and the civil war in Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country, has not stopped.
International disputes and military conflicts have erupted at many points, and the global development and security situation is complicated.
Tangen, CEO of Norway's sovereign wealth**, believes that the overall geopolitical situation, the Ukraine crisis, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and "many parts of the world" inject more risk into investments.
At the level of science and technology, the rapid development of artificial intelligence has not made many people happy to see it, but worried.
Looking back over the past year, the risks of misinformation and disinformation due to AI have been intertwined, and the Global Risks Report 2024, released ahead of the annual meeting, identified misinformation and disinformation as the biggest short-term risks.
Second, extreme weather and key changes in the Earth system will be the most serious long-term problems.
Where do the opportunities lie in the future?
Despite the complexity of the global situation, AI attracted the attention of the participants, and everyone believed that artificial intelligence, which has caused a huge sensation in recent years, is also seen as a powerful engine for economic and social development.
During this annual meeting, dozens of individual sessions were held around the topic of AI.
Among them, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, who built ChatGPT, have heated discussions and opinions on the future trend of the AI industry.
During this period, Altman downplayed the possibility that rapidly developing AI technology could fundamentally change the world in the short term. "We're building an impressive tool, but humans still have to do their own thing," he said.
While AI brings some new risks and challenges in terms of security, governance, copyright, ethics, etc., Bill Gates pointed out in the AI forum that every new technology based on historical experience brings fear, and then brings new opportunities. At the same time, Bill Gates also predicts that artificial intelligence will bring change to everyone in the next five years.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is also "hopeful" and "optimistic" about the future of AI, but said countries should agree on a set of industry standards.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes that AI provides new tools to accelerate technological development, and will play a huge role in the energy transition, cancer detection and many other aspects.
Cristiano Ammon, president and CEO of Qualcomm, said that AI represents technological innovation and is a great opportunity for innovation and technological leadership.
Maurice Levy, chairman of the French Publicis Groupe, mentioned in an interview that "artificial intelligence will be more transformative than mobile phones". It's going to be everywhere, and we'll have to adapt to it, as well as learn to use it. He also pointed out that what is more important at the moment is that we do not have to be experts in the field of artificial intelligence, but we need to be experts in the use of artificial intelligence.
China brings more solutions to trust
In addition to AI, China is also a high-profile topic at the annual meeting in Davos.
During the annual meeting in Davos, China released the GDP figures for the past year, and China's GDP in 2023 will exceed 126 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52%。
As the world's second largest economy and a major open country that has contributed more than 30% to world economic growth for many years, China has demonstrated an open, inclusive, self-confident and responsible attitude, which is a strong support for "rebuilding trust" and a highlight of this year's Davos Forum.
Chen Liming, Chairman of the World Economic Forum's Greater China Region, said: "In the face of common challenges for all mankind, such as climate change, ecological environmental degradation, and artificial intelligence governance, no country or international organization can respond to and solve them alone. China plays an important role in this. China is a vital player in global affairs, and its participation is indispensable on major issues that affect the future of mankind. ”
In response to the world's attention to the China-US relationship, a number of business leaders expressed their views.
Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, said: "The US and China are now 'quite closely linked' and any effort to 'positively' the relationship between the two countries would have a negative impact on the US, China and the global economy. ”
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater, also believes that this year will be a "critical year", as the United States and geopolitical events will have the biggest impact on the market this year. He told CNBC: "Our biggest risk is not China, but ourselves. ”
When talking about the future of society and investment opportunities, many political leaders and investment giants are looking forward to the Chinese market.
There is a general consensus: in recent years, China's contribution to world economic growth has been maintained at about 30%, and it is the main partner of more than 140 countries and regions, and the overall tariff level has been reduced to 73%, close to the level of developed members of the WTO.
In the past five years, the rate of return on foreign direct investment in China has been about 9%, which is at a relatively high level in the world. At present, there are more than 400 million middle-income people in China, and the number will reach 800 million in the next decade or so, which will certainly play an important role in increasing global aggregate demand.
An official Davos article said: "How China acts is important for the world to 'rebuild trust and promote cooperation.'" ”
China's economic growth in the third quarter of 2023 exceeded expectations, and international organizations such as the IMF have raised their forecasts for China's economic growth in 2024.
On the topic of China's other opportunities for international markets, Heman Taneja, CEO of General Catalyst, a U.S. venture capital firm, said that China's strengthening of foreign cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence and the development of artificial intelligence technologies to help emerging economies are encouraging.
Cedrik Neike, CEO of Siemens Digital Industries, said that the digital economy is a new engine of global growth, and China has advantages in the digital economy, and they will actively participate in China's digital transformation.
Zahidi, Executive Director of the World Economic Forum, said: "China is one of the world's leading economies, and the healthy development of China's economy will have very positive spillover effects for the rest of the world. ”
Brende, president of the World Economic Forum, said: "I think China has played an important role not only in terms of economy, but also in building a more peaceful world. ”
In the midst of major changes unseen in a century, more complex political and economic changes will bring broader changes to the future.
At a time when opportunities and challenges coexist, China is willing to serve as a ballast stone for global stability and contribute its wisdom to solving world problems.
It is foreseeable that China will continue to play an active role in promoting world economic recovery and "rebuilding trust", bringing about obvious spillover effects.
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Information reference: 1. Davos observation: what risks should the world go to today.
2. What did global political and business leaders say in the first three days of the Davos Forum?
3. Davos hotly discussed China's proposal: openness and cooperation will inject new momentum into the global industry.
4. Many parties have emphasized "rebuilding trust" and China's role is "indispensable", and Davos has worked hard to dispel the dark clouds of the world economy.
5. The Davos Forum called for rebuilding trust for a better future.
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