New era of mutual learning for China and World Bank

Editor's note: Twenty years after her first assignment in Asia, Tatiana Rosito returns to Beijing as the World Bank's division director for China, Mongolia and Korea. Having spent much of the past two decades in China, she considers Beijing her second home. In an interview with China Daily's Li Wei, she discusses her new role and the evolving partnership between China and the World Bank.

Q: As China enters a new stage of development focused on innovation, productivity and high-quality growth, what is the "China opportunity" today, and what should the world expect in the years ahead?

A: After more than four decades of reform and opening up, China's long-term objective is to achieve high-quality development with a per capita GDP comparable to that of a moderately developed economy by 2035. The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) places innovation at the heart of China's next phase of development, with new quality productive forces driving productivity growth, stronger domestic demand, job creation and common prosperity, while supporting greener growth. China's private sector is looking to invest in other emerging markets and can be a critical source of capital. Other policy priorities include reinforcing employment and social protection and deepening market reforms to strengthen private sector investment and enhance productivity.

Additionally, China is advancing its commitment to peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. The new World Bank Group's 2026-2031 Country Partnership Framework for China signifies a shift from focusing primarily on financing toward emphasizing knowledge, innovation and mutual learning.

Q: What is driving this transition? Why do China and the World Bank need to exchange knowledge and experience rather than focus on financing alone?

A: The new framework lays out three main pillars: enabling high productivity and domestic demand growth for job creation; enhancing human capital and talent for better jobs; and expanding resilient sustainable infrastructure and natural capital. These align closely with China's own national plans.

We will combine selective lending, mainly for resilient infrastructure and natural capital, with a strong focus on addressing China's institutional needs and sharing its experience with other partners through the WBG's platform.

The new phase also includes selective private-sector engagement through the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, aiming to create more and better jobs.

Building on more than 45 years of cooperation, we will strengthen tailored research and advisory services and use the WBG's global reach to help China learn from and share its development experience.

Q: The China-WBG Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions exemplifies this knowledge partnership. If you were to bring policymakers from other developing countries to China, what ecosystem protection or restoration project would you show them, and what could China learn from other countries in return?

A: Established in December 2024, the CWGC has promoted various knowledge exchanges. We recently held the Second Ecological Civilization Flagship Knowledge Exchange Program in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September, with participants from 15 countries.

During the event, participants visited a World Bank-financed model of large-scale restoration integrating water and wetland management, agriculture and forestry — an approach developed with World Bank support in China and now being adapted in other regions.

If I were to showcase an ecosystem restoration project, I would take partners to the Loess Plateau, which would change their perspective on what is possible. From 1994 to 2005, the World Bank partnered with the Chinese government on two Loess Plateau watershed rehabilitation projects, creating one of the world's largest and most successful erosion-control programs.

The projects transformed severely eroded landscapes through an integrated approach that combined terracing, afforestation, grassland restoration, sediment control, improved farming and grazing practices, and more diversified livelihoods. Ecological restoration nearly tripled local incomes and lifted more than 2.5 million people out of poverty.

The model was subsequently replicated and adapted on a larger scale, benefiting many more people across the Loess Plateau and China.

The World Bank later supported the Ningxia Desertification Control and Ecological Protection Project (2012-2020), as well as projects in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins.

Regarding lessons from other countries, I would highlight the growing exchanges with Brazil on mobilizing finance through commercial banks for high-quality reforestation, and insights from Northern Europe on multifunctional forests, combining timber production, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity protection.

Q: AI is becoming an increasingly important part of both development and everyday work. Do you use AI yourself, and how has it changed the way you work? How can AI boost productivity while creating more and better jobs?

A: Indeed, I use AI in my work. The WBG is developing internal AI systems to improve efficiency and development impact by identifying and analyzing relevant data and scaling development solutions to meet member countries' needs.

But the final judgment must remain with our staff and management. AI also strengthens WBG's ability to collect, understand and share knowledge, including replicable development solutions. New tools such as the WBG Academy streamline data platforms and disseminate lessons more widely.

The World Development Report 2026 provides a comprehensive assessment of AI's implications for developing economies. Countries do not need to build trillion-dollar, all-purpose models to benefit from AI. And simply importing AI tools won't help. They must adapt AI to local languages, institutions and development needs, while building the skills and infrastructure to use it effectively.

AI is already enhancing medical screening, providing more accurate weather forecasts for farmers, and offering better educational resources for students.

The Report offers a clear framework — adopt, adapt and advance — to help countries harness AI's benefits without wasting scarce resources or becoming overly dependent on a single supplier.

Q: Since returning to Beijing, have you experienced a moment — at work, on the street or in everyday life — when you thought, "China has really changed since I was last here"?

A: I have worked in China at various times since 2009, engaging with different partners. From diplomatic efforts that supported closer China-Brazil relations after the global financial crisis, to partnerships in the energy sector and the emergence of institutions such as the AIIB and NDB, these experiences have allowed me to work across the public and private sectors and build relationships with universities and think tanks, including as a Tsinghua University alumna.

In August, I visited the World Robot Conference exhibition, a truly emblematic moment upon my recent return to Beijing. It symbolizes a new era in which China's innovation and technological advances are reshaping and pioneering new realms. I was also quite impressed by the new applications of this technology, which have the potential to transform manufacturing, services and daily lives at home.

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