The 2026 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting convened from January 19th to 23rd in Davos, Switzerland. Observers note that the global economy is confronting rapid and increasingly divergent technological transformations, while world leaders are gathering under the most complex geopolitical backdrop in decades. The forum's theme, "The Spirit of Dialogue," underscores the widespread anticipation for cooperative dialogue amidst intricate circumstances. The participation of numerous G7 and G20 leaders, BRICS nation representatives, and nearly 850 global CEOs and board chairs demonstrates a persistent confidence and resolve among various parties to address the world's pressing challenges.
The global economic outlook has shown slight improvement, yet significant uncertainties persist. In 2025, the world economy demonstrated resilience within a turbulent environment, but growth remained sluggish and fraught with extreme unpredictability. The latest pre-forum "Chief Economists Outlook" report from the World Economic Forum indicated that while the global economic prospects have modestly brightened, uncertainty remains a dominant feature. Factors such as soaring asset valuations, rising debt levels, adjustments in the geo-economic landscape, and the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence present both opportunities and risks. Notably, 53% of the surveyed chief economists anticipate a weakening global economic situation in 2026, a decrease from the 72% recorded in September 2025. The Forum's "Global Value Chains Outlook 2026" report highlighted that global value chains have entered an era of "structural uncertainty," characterized by intensified and increasingly structural volatility. Global value and supply chains are shifting from a state of stable integration to one of long-term fluctuation, fragmentation, and constraint. Geopolitics, industrial policies, the energy transition, and technological competition are collectively reshaping the global production and trade system, significantly weakening the previous cyclical characteristic of value chains automatically recovering after disruptions. The World Bank's latest "Global Economic Prospects" report suggests that the period from 2020 to 2030 "could be the weakest decade of global growth since the 1960s." It also warns that global trade growth will slow significantly in 2026, with associated economic downside risks remaining potent. Echoing this, the UN's "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2026" report projects a slight dip in global economic growth from 2.8% in 2025 to 2.7% in 2026, before a modest recovery to 2.9% in 2027—still considerably below the pre-pandemic (2010-2019) average of 3.2%. International trade growth is expected to decelerate sharply to 2.2% in 2026. In response to this landscape, the World Economic Forum is focusing on global challenges spanning geopolitics, economic resilience, and technological innovation, with key discussions centered on cooperation models amid intensifying international competition, unleashing new drivers for economic growth, investing in people, scaling the application of technologies like AI, and balancing ecological and economic development.
For the contemporary world economy, the most valuable and scarce resource is a "stable, predictable, and sustainable source of growth." Where does this stable momentum originate? Forum participants believe that the stable operation of the Chinese economy provides a reliable "anchor of stability" for global growth. Deloitte China CEO Liu Minghua asserted that China has made significant strides in technological innovation and open cooperation in recent years, evolving into a "new engine" for global economic growth and a "stabilizing anchor" for the world economy. Recently released data confirms that China successfully met its major economic and social development targets for 2025, prompting the International Monetary Fund to upwardly revise its 2026 growth forecast for China. International capital firms, including JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock, have increased their holdings of Chinese assets, underscoring confidence in the nation's economic prospects. The World Bank commended China, stating that its growth is more robust and that a quality-focused growth model will prove more sustainable. "Against the backdrop of anemic global growth, achieving a 5% growth rate in 2025 was no small feat for China," Liu Minghua commented, highlighting China's solid fundamental advantages, including its massive market, comprehensive industrial system, and abundant human resources, which provide a sturdy foundation for sustained economic expansion. Joe Ngai, Chairman of McKinsey Greater China, observed that the Chinese economy has displayed remarkable resilience and vitality, performing "beyond everyone's expectations." Liu Minghua pointed out that 2026 marks the beginning of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period, where upgrading the modern industrial system will be a crucial direction for economic transformation, with the key lying in adhering to innovation-driven development and fostering new growth drivers. China will continue to implement more proactive and effective macroeconomic policies to provide strong support for a sustained economic recovery. By driving high-quality development through innovation, China is injecting fresh momentum into global growth. China's entry into the top ten of the World Intellectual Property Organization's "Global Innovation Index 2025" report, coupled with the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation in fields like AI, biomanufacturing, commercial aerospace, and the low-altitude economy, is rapidly generating substantial commercial value and gaining increasing international recognition. Forum attendees concluded that, while facing multiple risks and challenges, the Chinese economy has advanced under pressure, demonstrating formidable resilience, continuing its role as a primary engine of global growth, with its红利效应 (dividend effect) becoming increasingly prominent. In an uncertain world, China remains one of the greatest certainties.
The global economy is calling for dialogue, with China presenting a tangible "opportunity list." The "Global Risks Report 2026," released just before the World Economic Forum meeting, identified geo-economic confrontation as the top risk for 2026, noting that geopolitical and economic risks continue to intensify in a new era of competition. Among current risk rankings, economic risks are rising the fastest. Mounting debt issues and potential asset bubbles, compounded by geo-economic conflicts, could trigger a new wave of instability. As leaders from major global economies and heads of international organizations delivered their speeches, discussions surrounding cooperation gained significant traction. "In uncertain times, dialogue is not a luxury; it is a necessity," emphasized World Economic Forum President Børge Brende. Simultaneously, increasing attention is turning towards China, with many viewing its economic development as offering a substantial "opportunity list" for the world. On how to foster cooperation amidst competition, China's initiatives and practices provide a viable pathway. At this year's Forum, China reiterated its steadfast support for free trade, its commitment to upholding multilateralism, its dedication to win-win cooperation, and its advocacy for using dialogue to properly manage differences and resolve problems. The perspective that tariffs and trade wars have no winners, and that nations cannot entirely reject economic globalization and retreat into self-isolation, resonated with other participants. Lian Ping, President and Chief Economist of Guang Kai Chief Industry Research Institute, suggested that in 2026, global multilateral and regional cooperation will continue to deepen, providing new momentum for global trade growth. Liu Minghua expressed the view that China possesses sustainable endogenous growth drivers and a clear willingness for open, win-win global cooperation. In the current environment of rising geopolitical uncertainty, China's steady expansion of institutional openness provides a crucial "anchor of stability" for global trade and economic activities.
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