UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses a session of the WEF annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2023. （PHOTO: VCG)

Edited by QI Liming

Under the theme of "Cooperation in a Fragmented World", the 2023 Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum (WEF) brought leaders together from across government, business, and civil society to tackle the numerous and interlinked challenges that the world is facing. The positive impact of China on global growth was focused since it opitimized its pandemic response, which is called reopening.

Reuters reported that, as China reopens, the WEF is optimistic about the global economy. China's declaration that it is open for business was welcomed by attendees as a boost to global growth.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organization, pointed out that China's reopening could help supply chains work better and also boost consumer demand.

Meanwhile Joe Kaeser, chairman of Siemens Energy, said, "When it comes to summer or fall, China will be moving to the second phase of reform and opening up. That could certainly help the world also grow and ease the pain of a lot of industrial countries, including Europe."

Bloomberg said that according to a WEF panel on the prospects of a recession, China stirs up hope for global growth, and its reopening together with the resilience of advanced economies provides hope for the world to weather 2023, despite the struggle for growth in some economies.

Standard Chartered Chairman José Viñals, spoke at the WEF, that China is going to have a very good year. "The Chinese economy is going to be on fire and that's going to be very, very important for the rest of the world," he said.

Positive comments about China's economy were also made by Rio Tinto's CEO Jakob Stausholm, who told the WEF he was "absolutely convinced" that China's reopening will help the global economy.

Top finance officials at the WEF said that China's reopening from pandemic restrictions could drive global growth beyond expectations and help avoid a broader recession, fueling hopes that the world's second largest economy can resurrect global growth even as the U.S., Eurozone and Britain flirt with a recession over the coming quarters.

"The reopening of China has to be the major event and it will be a key driver for growth," said Laura M Cha, the Chairperson of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. Her comments were echoed by others who saw China as a key to the global recovery.

"There's pent-up savings, there's pent-up demand, so we think that China will see very strong growth, especially as you get later in the year," said Douglas L. Peterson, the President and CEO of S&P Global in a panel discussion.