Forum spotlights entrepreneurship

The 2025 Summer Davos Forum in North China's Tianjin municipality offers a timely opportunity for participants to explore how entrepreneurship can unlock economic growth potential amid global challenges.

Exceptional economic uncertainty, rising tensions, major technological disruptions and the climate are what chief economists refer to as the "exceptional uncertainty" facing the world today, Gim Huay Neo, managing director of the World Economic Forum, said in Beijing ahead of the event, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday.

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

Gong Ke, research lead for the 2025 Summer Davos topics, said that the entrepreneurial spirit, rooted in innovation, social responsibility and teamwork, plays a vital role as a new driving force and leader in economic development.

"Entrepreneurs in the new era contribute to optimizing global resource utilization and promoting resource sharing, providing an important economic foundation for building a community with a shared future for humankind," he added.

The Summer Davos Forum carries the theme "Entrepreneurship in the New Era" this year. The forum will focus on five key areas — deciphering the world economy, outlook on China, industries disrupted, investing in people and the planet, and new energy and materials.

The event is expected to bring together around 1,800 participants from over 90 countries and regions, according to the organizers.

Explaining the choice of theme, Gim Huay Neo said the entrepreneurial spirit is centered on solutions and inspires hope and optimism. She emphasized the importance of focusing on areas with opportunities and potential for innovation to tackle the many challenges ahead, while maintaining a long-term perspective.

"At a time like this, it is important for all of us to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit, to view the challenges we face as opportunities, to create business solutions that address issues affecting people and the planet, and to be open to learning from one another in order to constantly improve and adapt," she said.

Gim Huay Neo added that the record number of participants at the forum since the COVID-19 pandemic reflects the global community's strong interest in gaining firsthand insights into China's evolution, artificial intelligence and the broader innovation ecosystem, as well as exploring potential business opportunities and partnerships.

Li Jiayi, a member of the forum's preparation team, noted that the economic growth model driven by science and technology has injected new vitality into China's development, making AI, green energy and the country's innovative momentum key topics of discussion among participants.

Hailing China's progress in green growth, Neo said the country has seized the global environmental crisis as an opportunity to transform industries and stimulate the growth of new green industries.

At a recent news conference on the Summer Davos Forum, Chen Shuai, an official from the National Development and Reform Commission, reaffirmed China's commitment to pursuing high-standard opening-up and to sharing the opportunities created by its development with the rest of the world.

Xinhua - China Daily