Davos: China highlighted wider opening-up, tech innovation and green transformation to promote high-quality development with advanced technology and fair competition markets at the Davos Forum on Tuesday.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2025 began on Monday in Davos, Switzerland. Themed “Collaboration in the Intelligent Age”, the event will discuss key topics ranging from geopolitical tensions, the accelerating climate crisis to rapid technological change and its impact on the global economy through artificial intelligence and automation. has been done
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang attended the meeting and gave a speech on Tuesday. He expressed firm confidence in China’s economic development and emphasized global cooperation for open and inclusive development.
Ding said that China’s economic development is generally stable with stable growth as China’s economy shifts from traditional growth drivers to a new economy with the development of emerging and high-tech industries.
Hi-tech based development
China is actively developing its industrial landscape by focusing on emerging and future-oriented industries to drive economic growth and global competitiveness. These strategic industries are centered around innovation, sustainability, and digital transformation. Key areas include high-tech and smart manufacturing, new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and aerospace.
Over the years, China has made significant progress in technological development in various fields. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s research and development (R&D) spending will exceed 3.3 trillion yuan (about $454 billion) in 2023, up 8.4 percent from last year. Currently, China’s total R&D expenditure ranks second in the world after the United States. In addition, China’s innovation index was 165.3 in 2023 (with a baseline of 100 in 2015), a 6 percent increase over the previous year.
The economic contribution from the high-tech sector is encouraging. According to a recent press briefing by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of science and technology-driven enterprises in China will exceed 600,000 by 2024. Among them are a total of 14,600 “small giant” firms – small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are leaders in their respective industries.
On average, “small to large” firms allocate seven percent of their revenue to research and development. Despite comprising only 3.2 percent of the total number of small and medium-sized industrial enterprises in the country, they contribute 10.9 percent to profits, demonstrating their significant impact on China’s economy.
Furthermore, in the global AI competition, between 2014 and 2023, China filed more than 38,000 patents related to generative AI, leading the global race in technology.
Green change
At the forum, Ding also highlighted the achievements of China’s green transition and its significant contributions to combating climate change. He emphasized China’s significant progress in its green and low-carbon transition, a trend that has become a hallmark of its economy.
China has set an ambitious target for green growth: it aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Since 2012, China’s energy per unit GDP and carbon emission intensity have decreased by more than 26 percent and 35 percent, respectively. , according to Ding.
Official data shows that China has built the world’s largest and most complete new energy industrial chain. Its renewable energy now accounts for more than 35 percent of the country’s total electricity production. Additionally, it produces 70 percent of the world’s photovoltaic components and 60 percent of wind power equipment, underscoring China’s leading role in driving global green growth and climate action.
In the circular economy sector, China has also seen strong growth, with new material technologies leading to innovative solutions. For example, a Chinese company has developed a process that produces a T-shirt using polyester yarn extracted from eight plastic bottles and a hard-shell jacket from 28 plastic bottles. The process recycles more than 30 billion plastic bottles annually, providing environmental and economic benefits.
“China’s steady and steady economic growth will provide a strong and sustainable impetus to global economic growth,” Ding said. He urged all countries to strengthen international cooperation in the era of rapidly emerging new technologies, bridge the digital divide, reduce the development gap between the global North and South, and for international economic cooperation. Promote an open, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment.
