José María is CEO of the World Economic Forum.
Why does the Forum have a summit in China every year?
China may today be at the forefront of discussion due to its huge growth potential, which our members and partners recognize. However, the Forum has long been active in China, and was the first foreign organization to send a business delegation to China, back in 1979. In fact a reciprocal relationship was established the year after, and we’ll celebrate “25 years of China and the Forum” at our Davos Annual Meeting next January. As for our China event, we’ve been active every year since 1981. So it may seem like “opportunism”, but actually our presence is founded on a strong faith from the very beginning.
What achievement do you hope will come out of the China Business Summit 2004?
We’ve been fortunate each year to focus on the issues that will be pivotal for the next 6-18 months of growth. So we highlighted the private sector, AIDS, entrepreneurship, and education in the past 3-4 years. This year we’re taking a special look at three sectors: tourism and travel, natural resources - chemicals, mining and energy; and private investment in China.
In addition, with the presence of Foreign Minister Kawaguchi of Japan, we’re taking a special look at the potential of Northeast Asia. Without a doubt, relations between China, Japan, and Korea will be critical to the overall direction and stability of Asia as a region.
We also hope to make a significant contribution to China in terms of competitiveness. China is at a critical point in its growth, when the decisions it takes will have long term, deep impacts on its future competitiveness. We hope that the discussions at the Summit will contribute to this dialogue.
How do you think China's role in the world will change over the next 20 years?
Although China’s GDP is “only” 4% of the world’s total GDP, its economic weight has already moved beyond this. It’s a two-way phenomenon: China buying up global resources such as oil and steel, and China becoming the “world’s factory”. At the same time, China is reaching out more and beginning to participate more proactively in regional and global affairs, while hosting more and more international events at home. The Olympics and World Expo are just two among many. In a sense, China is becoming a fully fledged member of the international community.
What could the West learn from China?
China’s pragmatic approach to its development thus far, and of tackling things in a realistic and forthright manner, are already a good basis for understanding how to grow within one’s means.
China’s fantastic growth provides many lessons for sure, as economist and historians will point out. We believe that some of the best lessons are yet to be learned, as China completes her transition into a well off society, as Chinese multinationals begin to globalize and gain presences abroad, as Beijing upgrades for the Olympics in 2008, as China begins to help shape Asia’s future security agenda.
In China, how can you fulfill your mission statement without addressing issues like politics, human rights, and AIDS?
In fact some of the Forum’s most notable breakthroughs came on the most sensitive issues, from apartheid in South Africa, to peace in the Middle East, to AIDS in China. The Forum fulfills its mission statement by remaining independent.
Although we are a private independent organization, it is the Forum's mission to improve the state of the world by bringing business and society in partnership together. So we don’t provide political directions, although we do provide a platform for issues to be discussed by leaders from all walks of life - business, government, civil society.
Is it fair to expect China to be environmentally responsible given the pressure for economic advancement? Isn’t this expectation rather naïve?
No, it is not naïve. In the world of today we already have many examples that evidence the importance of good, sound environmental policies as contributing elements to development which is sustainable from an economic as well as social point of view.
While much has been said of China’s past and present environmental record, we must also recognize that a fundamental shift is already taking place with response to its environmental policies. The direction in which China is beginning to move is certainly a positive one. It would seem that China has come to the conclusion, as a few other developing nations have also done, that increasingly informed consumers are beginning to prefer products produced with high environmental standards in countries with proactive environmental policies.
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More than 1,700 participants from 90 countries, including Premier Wen Jiabao of China, are participating in the World Economic Forum's Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions, in Dalian, China. The meeting runs from 6-8 September and will focus on the role the new generation of fast-emerging multinational companies – the New Champions – are playing in substantially changing the global business landscape.
