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Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, 27-28 September
News from the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008
Sunday 28 September
 Annual Meeting of the New Champions closes
During the closing remarks of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, argued that the unfolding crisis presents a tremendous challenge to the existing financial order. “This is probably the first transformational crisis of our globalized age,” said Schwab. “Many things will change.” While several of the world’s leading businesses in recent weeks have disappeared, new corporations will emerge from around the world to take the lead.
In a World Economic Brainstorming poll conducted prior to the closing remarks, participants pointed to the current crisis as the greatest threat to global growth of the next twelve months. Old and new stakeholders need to work together to meet this common challenge, argued Robert Greenhill, Managing Director and Chief Business Officer, World Economic Forum. “A very important part of this forum is bringing together the present and the future,” said Greenhill. And the Forum’s Second Global Growth @ Risk Report 2008 holds that risk is exacerbated by focusing only on the current crisis and not planning to move beyond it.
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 China eyes greater role in the global economy amidst the turmoil
“Although we are facing difficult obstacles, China can still play an important role in the global economy,” said Cheng Siwei, President of the China Association for Soft Science Studies. In a plenary session, he called for authorities to encourage investment, domestic consumption and exports in order to keep the economic growth rate between 8 and 10%. “Now the challenge is to keep the balance between economic growth and inflation,” he said.“I think these days everybody worries about things, but there are a lot of opportunities,” said Jack Ma Yun, Chairman and CEO, Alibaba Group, China. He said the current financial crisis is forcing businesses “back to the basics” of serving customers. “The future of China is domestic demand and consumption,” he said.
Victor Chu, Chairman and CEO, First Eastern Investment Group, Hong Kong, and Member of the World Economic Foundation Board said that structural reforms for example in the pension system would ease the minds of Chinese customers to spend more.
Dealing with governance-related issues such as IP, counterfeiting, and generating more innovation and quality would help China take its products abroad and expand globally, added Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO, Publicis Group, and Forum Foundation Board Member.
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Corporate social engagement must be part of core business strategy
 Instability in the markets and the financial turmoil of recent weeks should not deter companies from continuing their engagement in society, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, told participants in a session on the final day of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008. “When we face a crisis, corporate social responsibility and corporate global citizenship should not be put on the back burner,” he said.
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 Experts See Weaker Dollar, but No Collapse, as Result of Financial Crisis
The financial crisis in the US banking system and the proposed US$ 700 billion government rescue package now being drafted in Washington both pose risks to the stability of the US dollar, according to leading bankers and economists gathered at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008. However, a lack of investment alternatives, combined with the likelihood that the economic downturn will spread to Europe, should limit the downside for the US currency.
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 China committed to reform course, unswayed by market turmoil abroad
Against a backdrop of deepening global financial turmoil, the Chinese government remains committed to its long-term course of market-oriented reforms. Recent turbulence in foreign markets, while highlighting the need to boost China’s regulatory oversight, could also offer useful insights into how to structure the nation’s own capital markets. “The current financial crisis allows us to learn how to regulate the modern financial system,” said Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice-Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission, People’s Republic of China, at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008.
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Saturday 27 September
Chinese Premier: Growth must be sustainable: Business should embrace ethics
 Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, 27 September 2008 – In his opening remarks at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that the unfolding international financial crisis underscores how important it is for China to balance growth with employment creation and environmental protection. “We must ensure sustainable growth in our economy,” he added. Wen advised the business leaders of the New Champion companies – fast-growing global enterprises from more than 90 countries – to embrace innovation. “If you wish to remain or become New Champions, you must be innovative and take the lead in doing so. Otherwise, you won’t be successful.” He added: “Entrepreneurs must also have the high moral ground. I wish they would have morality in their blood.” Wen hoped that they would transfer useful technology to China. More than 1,400 business, government and civil society leaders are participating in the second Annual Meeting of the New Champions.
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Global Economic outlook dim, but developing world to grow
 The world economy faces a period of weak growth until the end of 2009, participants of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008 were told today. The US may see a recession, but China and other emerging and developing economies can still drive expansion.
“We are looking now to the larger, faster-growing economies to take up the slack,” said Peter Mandelson, Commissioner, Trade, European Commission, Brussels. “We need them to be sources of liquidity, of demand, of investment, of confidence in the global economy.”
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 Financial turmoil underscores need for more global cooperation and regulation
The unfolding financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, is now affecting the real economy, with lending at a trickle, unemployment rising and retail sales falling, William R. Rhodes, Senior Vice-Chairman, Citigroup; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Citibank NA, Citi, USA, warned participants in a session on the risks to global growth at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008. “Decoupling is not a reality. What is happening in the markets in the US is affecting the credit markets worldwide. We are in a crisis of confidence. There is just no confidence in financial institutions in the market.”
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Young Scientists at the Annual Meeting of the New champions
 The Young Scientists is a group of exceptional academics from around the world under the age of 40. They have produced ground-breaking research in different fields and were nominated by the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues (IAP) and invited by the World Economic Forum to participate in the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008. Besides leading discussions in their areas of specialty, they will also discuss in several sessions the changing nature of research and how science can contribute to a better world.
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Friday 26 September
 Innovative toolkit to prompt Chinese companies' action around the TB threat
The Global Health Initiative of the World Economic Forum with support from the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership and inputs from the National Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control (CDC) and key partners has developed a toolkit, "Protecting Your Workforce and Surrounding Communities from Tuberculosis: An Awareness Building Toolkit on a Comprehensive Approach to TB for Businesses in China". The objective of the toolkit is to help Chinese Companies plan and implement workplace and community-based TB prevention, care and control programmes.
- Press release (English) I TB Toolkit 2 Pager (English)
- Press release (Chinese) I TB Toolkit 2 Pager (Chinese)
 Companies risk future growth if they do not look beyond the current crisis underlines new World Economic Forum report
The Global Risk Network of the World Economic Forum today launched its second Global Growth Risk report at a press conference before the Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China. The report considered a number of short-term and longer-term risks to growth for both markets and corporations. The report looks at the potential short-term impact of the credit crisis and its implications beyond the financial sector for the real economy and growth across different markets and sectors.
Download the report
(PDF) I Press release
Leaders optimistic about global growth
 World leaders gathering in Tianjin for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2008 are optimistic about the opportunity for global growth despite the financial turmoil. It is the first major industry meeting since the economic crisis last week.
The meeting will focus on the response of the new generation of fast-emerging multinational companies to the current economic challenges and future opportunities under the theme “The Next Wave of Growth”, and will welcome 1,400 participants from 90 countries. Premier Wen Jiabao will give the opening address on Saturday 27 September.
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Thursday 25 September
 Young Global Leaders Annual Summit 2008
The Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum (YGLs) have begun their Annual Summit 2008 in the Chinese city, Tianjin, with learning journeys to a middle school and business incubation centre. Held under the theme "Inspiring leadership", the YGLs are examining how to manage challenges in the short term through workshops exploring risk, communication, entrepreneurship, status, trust and power, and Meet the Leader sessions. They are looking at leading for the long term by investigating trends in education, health, poverty, environment and governance, as well as the impact of China and Asia on the future. The YGLs are meeting ahead of the Forum's Annual Meeting of New Champions 2008 which will take place from 27-28 September in Tianjin.
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“Entrepreneurs should remain committed to innovation if they want to become the New Champions.”
"Frontier markets mean something between known and unknown, and compared with emerging markets, there are more risks and uncertainty but also more opportunities."
“The most import thing for China is human intellectual capital. In the coming 20 years, we will have to transform to an innovation driven growth model.”
“We’re not going to solve the economic problems we face without a better-working international system.”
We’ve had a failure of risk management because we set the price of risk too low. People in my industry are programmed to take risk and we had a huge blunder in monetary policy.“
“The current crisis is global by nature, but regulation and supervision are still national. No national financial system is an island to itself, so we must increase international cooperation.”
“We are in a period of tremendous lack of confidence which is impacting credit markets world wide and until you restore that, we have a problem world wide.”
"I don’t believe a global recession will occur because the strength of monetary and fiscal tools are such that very a dire outcome can be avoided. But there are some very important actions to be taken yet."
