Cooperation key to 'Innovating at Scale': China Daily editorial

The global economy seems to have become a master class in contradictions: artificial intelligence is attracting record investment, yet productivity growth remains stubbornly weak. Supply chains are being reconfigured among some economies in the name of "security", yet fragmentation is making growth harder to sustain. Governments speak of innovation, while many simultaneously erect barriers to the very flows of trade, capital and talent that innovation requires.

Compounding the picture is the Middle East crisis, which has disrupted energy markets amid inflation, tariff disputes and intensifying industrial policy rivalry that continues to impact global commerce. It is no surprise that many economists surveyed by the World Economic Forum ahead of this year's Summer Davos in Dalian, Liaoning province, expect growth to weaken over the year. The World Bank also projects global economic growth to slow to 2.5 percent this year, the lowest in recent years.

Against this backdrop, the agenda of the WEF's 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, being held in Dalian from Tuesday to Thursday, looks like a diagnosis of the world economy's most pressing ailments.

Under the theme of "Innovating at Scale", the forum has convened over 1,700 participants — including business executives, policymakers, researchers and technical experts — from more than 90 countries and regions. The five core questions guiding the agenda are revealing: how to achieve prosperity amid changing trade realities; how to understand China's next stage of development; how technology can generate real economic value; how growth can create opportunities for younger generations; and how the climate transition can become a source of competitiveness. The common thread running through all of these is the rolling out of innovation as a practical tool for growth, employment and economic renewal.

The first question may be the most urgent. According to World Trade Organization, around 11 percent of global trade has been affected by the tariff tensions since 2025. The result is a world economy increasingly constricted by protectionism. Yet history offers little evidence that prosperity can be built behind walls, while economic globalization has proved the opposite. Globalization requires reform, yet retreating into protectionism or unilateralism is unlikely to provide the answer.

The forum's emphasis on stronger institutions, greater capital flows and forward-looking policies reflects an understanding that innovation flourishes in open systems rather than closed ones. It is difficult to imagine breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, biotechnology or clean energy occurring without cross-border cooperation, investment and talent mobility. This is where the discussions among the policymakers, entrepreneurs and investors gathered in Dalian can made a difference.

China will occupy a key place in those discussions. The world's second-largest economy is navigating a transition to growth driven by new quality productive forces, with greater emphasis on smart manufacturing, the green economy and advanced technology. How that transition unfolds will influence global supply chains, investment decisions and economic expectations far beyond China's borders.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang's participation in the opening ceremony of the Summer Davos, meetings with foreign guests and discussions with business leaders on the sidelines of the forum in Dalian will provide the participants with an opportunity to engage directly with China's policymaking circle. Equally important, it offers Chinese policymakers a chance to hear firsthand the expectations of the global business community.

The deeper significance of the Summer Davos lies in its insistence that growth remains a collective endeavor. The world is entering an era increasingly influenced by geopolitical rivalry, economic fragmentation and technological "decoupling" in many places and sectors. Yet none of these challenges can be solved through isolation.

In an age when policymakers in many places are tempted to erect walls, a key message from Dalian, a vibrant coastal city in Northeast China, will be that prosperity is still built through openness, cooperation and confidence in a shared future based on a just, fair and inclusive world order.