学文网Since the 1970s， Davos， a small mountain village in the Swiss Alps， has been vaulted into the global spotlight for a few days every winter as host of the World Economic Forum （WEF）. This year was no exception. From January 21 to 24， the WEF Annual Meeting 2015 convened in Davos under the theme “The New Global Context，” attracting over 2，500 of the world’s most influential figures in business， politics， and academia to a gathering seeking answers to major challenges facing the world.
Critical Year
In 2015， the world has reached a fork in the road. The U.S. economy seems on its way to recovery， but with heightened geopolitical tension in Ukraine and the possibility of a replay of the euro crisis， the global economy is facing strong headwind despite lower oil prices. Citing stagnation in Europe and Japan and a slowdown in China， the World Bank downgraded its forecast for the global economy this year in a recent report.
On the agenda of this year’s WEF annual meeting are many pressing issues requiring immediate solutions， from deepening geopolitical fault-lines to the future of the internet.
At a pre-event press conference， Klaus Schwab， founder and executive chairman of WEF， predicted that 2015 would be a “critical” year for the world. “The world has changed substantially，” he explained. “We are in a post-crisis world. That is the reason why we have chosen ‘New Global Context’as this year’s theme.”
Not long ago， the WEF released Global Risks 2015 Report wherein it identified top dangers threatening the world， including an extreme water crisis， massive unemployment and energy price fluctuation.
“Today’s challenges， which are global in scope， heavily interlinked in nature and critical in urgency， will only be addressed through greater understanding and stronger collaboration by all stakeholders，” warned Espen Barth Eide， managing director of WEF.
Against a backdrop of increasing international disputes， Klaus Schwab called for trust building. “We have a great obligation not only to look after our own interests， but also to engage and make sure that this meeting is the dawn of a renaissance of trust，” he said.
Concerns about China
China has served as a major engine for the world economic growth especially since the 2008 financial crisis. However， just two days before the WEF annual meeting， the country announced that its economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent in 2014， the lowest in 24 years.
China’s economic slowdown comes at a vulnerable time for the world economyC the Eurozone is still at risk of another recession， “Abenomics” have failed to drag Japan out of the mire， and investors are pulling money out of emerging markets.
The slowdown of the world’s second largest economy has evoked global concern. When Chinese Premier Li Keqiang took the floor at a plenary session of the WEF annual meeting， all eyes were fixed on clues he might provide on the health of the increasingly hefty Chinese economy as the global recovery remains fragile.
“The Chinese economy will continue to face substantial downward pressure in 2015，” Li said in a keynote speech at Davos. But， he also asserted that the Chinese economy will not encounter a “hard landing.”
He added that the nation will press on with structural reform， including liberalizing its services sectors， promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation， protecting intellectual property rights and reforming its capital market. “The gear of growth is shifting from high speed to medium-to-high speed， and development needs to move from low-to-medium level to medium-to-high level. This has made it all the more necessary for us to press ahead with structural reform，” Li added.
In fact， China is already getting ready for a period of “new normal” as it focuses on quality rather than speed of growth and shifts focus from an export-investment led model to one more reliant on consumption and the services sector.
“Even with 7 percent growth C the government’s target for 2015 C China is likely to remain the largest contributor to the global economic growth，” maintains Schwab. “That is impressive， considering many of China’s key trade partners， includ- ing Europe and Russia， are experiencing sluggish growth.”
This sentiment was echoed by Fredrik Erixon， director of the European Centre for International Political Economy， a global economics think tank based in Brussels.“China could add a new dimension to its global economic leadership by accelerating economic reform to reverse the country’s growth trend，” he remarks.
Zhou Xiaochuan， governor of China’s central bank， also delivered an upbeat assessment of the country’s economic prospects. “China’s economy is still stable with a relatively high growth rate，” he pointed out at a panel session of the WEF annual meeting. “The country is willing to push for structural reform despite the fact that it will lead to slower economic development.”
“Meanwhile， we will place more emphasis on structural reform. China’s economy is slowing down a bit， but it’s becoming more sustainable. I think that’s good news.”
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