World leaders, business elites to discuss globalization 4.0 in Davos

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Davos in 2017 that the global economy is "the big ocean that you cannot escape from" and any attempt to retreat back to isolation runs counter to the historical trend.

One major solution offered by China to help tackle global challenges and build an open and more inclusive economy is the Belt and Road Initiative, said Martin Albrow, a renowned sociologist and a pioneer of the theory of globalization.

Proposed by China in 2013, the initiative is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.