Davos sets agenda for 2017, with Xi Jinping at its head

By Jeremy Garlick | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-01-13 17:35

It's that time of year again, when the World Economic Forum (WEF) holds its annual meeting for movers and shakers in Davos, the famous Swiss ski resort. This year the event is to be held from Jan 17-20 and is sure to be keenly followed by all who are concerned about how the future of China intersects with the problems that beset today's world. There are two specific reasons why this year's Davos is going to be especially interesting.

The first of these is that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has never been to Davos before, is attending the WEF's 47th edition. The second is that the conference focuses on the theme of 'Responsive and Responsible Leadership'.

The concept of responsible leadership is one which China has been actively seeking to address for the past few years. Beijing is currently trying to demonstrate its willingness to take on a leading role in world affairs through the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and a raft of other projects.

It is therefore a shame that some other leaders of global powers, such as Germany's Angela Merkel and America's Donald Trump, will not be present to discuss the direction the world should take through 2017 and beyond. Trump has a good excuse: he is being inaugurated as US president. However, Merkel's decision not to attend is something of a mystery.

Nevertheless, getting down to the nuts and bolts of this meeting of global elites, the WEF wants to set an agenda for global leaders by suggesting discussion of five areas where humanity needs to face up to change.

The first of these is the necessity of preparing for what the WEF likes to call the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution'. Technological changes mean that workers are faced with new challenges due to robots and artificial intelligence. Other innovations such as biotechnology, quantum computing and driverless cars are going to bring important and lasting changes too.

There can therefore be little doubt that the global economy needs to reset. China is already putting itself in prime position to be at the forefront of the coming tectonic shift in the relationship between technology and the economy via its world-leading investment in renewable energy.

Several recent reports show that China is now the world's biggest investor in renewables, having pumped more than $100 billion into the domestic scene in 2015, which is more than twice as much as the US. Overseas investments also soared by more than 60 percent in 2016.

Thus, Xi is in a strong position to demonstrate to the Davos elites that China is the global leader on addressing climate change, global warming and environmental degradation. This is particularly the case since the US under Trump is seemingly likely to slash budgets for investment in green technologies.

But there are many other issues to discuss at Davos as well.

For instance, the second point on the Davos agenda is to strengthen global governance and collaboration between international actors. The third and fourth points are revitalizing economic growth and reforming market capitalism, while the fifth is to rebuild the worldwide public's confidence concerning the effects of globalization.

Taken as a package, these five points suggest, given China's keen interest in these issues, a leading role for Xi in Davos. All eyes are likely to be on what the Chinese president says and does.

Xi has a chance to set the agenda not just for Davos but for the whole world in 2017. He will be rubbing shoulders with not just other political leaders, but also with top businessmen and other figures of global stature. The opportunity to frame debates about the future at what is self-evidently a crucial juncture in the history of humanity is clear.

So, what to suggest as priorities and imperatives for concrete policy discussions under the theme of responsive and responsible leadership at the WEF?

Well, as a background to talks about policy direction, trust-building is critical.

Davos is sometimes called a 'schmooze-fest', and not without justification, since it is a venue where elites can relax and get to know each other. Therefore, the foremost priority for President Xi from day one of Davos must be to build relationships with other leaders.

After that, there is any number of current global problems to address. European disunity, Brexit and the Syrian conflict all spring to mind. But these are of shorter-term significance than the long-range issues which need careful planning.

Of less immediate urgency but of more long-term benefit for all are issues such as what might be termed the legitimation crisis faced by political and business elites in many countries. There is discontent in many corners of the world, not least of which in Europe, with the effects of globalization. The Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Donald Trump in the US are clear signals in the developed world of a rising tide of dissatisfaction about the negative effects of cross-border trade.

Xi and the other leaders in Davos need to discuss ways to rebuild a sense of confidence in the complex interconnectedness of the world economy. They need to give global publics a sense of purpose and invest in the project of building win-win synergies via the development of new technologies, infrastructures and trade links which will benefit people everywhere, and not just those at the top of the food chain.

To do this, they need to search for ways to develop the idea of economic growth in an interdependent capitalist market economy as a liberating force for the masses, and not just a way for the rich to get richer at the expense of the poor.

If the Davos elites, with Xi at their head this year, can develop long-term strategies for pulling more of the world's disadvantaged classes out of poverty by boosting investment in economic growth in both developed and developing countries rather than just pursuing low-cost exploitation of labor and resources. That might be the first step on the path to a year more suggestive of promise than the rather dispiriting one which has just ended.

Jeremy Garlick is a lecturer in international relations at the Jan Masaryk Centre for International Studies, University of Economics in Prague.