AMNC26 Day 1 - Taking the pulse of Asia's largest economy, and of the world

Robin Pomeroy, host, Radio Davos: It's Tuesday, the 23rd of June, 2026. And from the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, AMNC26, in Dalian, China, welcome to Radio Davos.

Give us 10 minutes and we'll give you a rundown of what to expect today, on Day 1 of the Summer Davos.

Get it on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or any podcast app, including the Xiaoyuzhou app in China or on the Forum Live app.

From the World Economic Forum Summer Davos in Dalian, China, this is Radio Davos Daily.

And joining us to help look ahead to the day, Day 1, at AMNC26, is Olivia Siong, who is Senior China Editor, and Senior Correspondent at CNA, Channel News Asia.

Hi, Olivia. How are you?

Olivia Siong, Senior China Editor, and Senior Correspondent, CNA: Hey, Robin. Good to be here.

Robin Pomeroy: Great to have you here. Thanks for joining us to look ahead at Day 1 at AMNC. Tell us what you do, what is CNA?

Olivia Siong: CNA is an international news organisation. We broadcast globally, but we're headquartered in Singapore. Our tagline is Understand Asia. So very much we are keen to tell the stories to our audiences about Asia and why this region really matters.

So being here at the Summer Davos here in China is important for us to get a pulse on Asia's largest economy. So I'm excited to be here again.

Robin Pomeroy: I guess this event is an occasion for the rest of the world to engage with Asia. What's your experience of the AMNCs? You've been to them before?

Olivia Siong: Yeah, I've been to them before here in Dalian as well as in Tianjin because they do alternate between these two cities. And for me, it's always really interesting.

I mean, we just have to talk about where the event is located. Dalian is a Chinese port city, and there's been just so much attention with regard to China's economy.

And I was just thinking back to the last two years that I've been at this event. And what has been most striking to me has been the pace of change that we're just witnessing here at the event.

Maybe two years ago, we were talking a lot about electric vehicles, batteries, what are the possibilities.

Last year, there was a lot of talk about AI and the Deepseek moment.

But this year, we're already talking about innovating at scale. And so that really stands out to me, that pace of changem and you can really feel it when you are here in China.

There's so much talk about robotics, embodied AI, world models. I have to try and wrap my head around it. And lots of new frontier tech that is being discussed as well.

Robin Pomeroy: Right, so you'll be really looking out for discussions on that.

I came to this event, it was my first event when I started working at the World Economic Forum seven years ago and already I can see a difference with the electric vehicles, The traffic here, although it's very quiet, I think it's probably unusual because there's a big event and there's other things going on. But, and I saw this last year as well in Tianjin and Beijing, it's almost all electric vehicles and the traffic's quiet. It's so unusual to come from Europe where traffic is noisy, but here it's, almost take it for granted now. People are probably no longer that excited about electric vehicles, right? Because it's just what, vehicles are electric now.

Is that something you look at in your shows for CNA? Do you look technology a lot?

Olivia Siong: Absolutely, I think because, you know, China is so much at the frontier of it, it's also the adoption and that is really because it's become a very core part of China's future growth strategy.

We talk about that new 15th five-year plan that is implementing from this year and innovation and tech is going to be front and centre of that and that as we also have to acknowledge that China's economy is facing challenges, whether it's property or with weak domestic consumption.

So I'd be interested to hear how that's being discussed here because it seems like there's this dichotomy with the Chinese economy that these bright spots, but there are also these challenges that need to be addressed.

We see on the displays and exhibitions, there are those robotic arms as well.

I remember last year as well, it's always interesting to hear directly from the bosses of these big Chinese firms. So last year, the head of Unitree, Wang Xingxing, I remember he was mobbed by the media after one of his panel sessions because everyone's just so interested to know what's next, what's next.

Robin Pomeroy: What do they make?

Olivia Siong: The robots, I think if you recall, so humanoid robots. They had made a big splash earlier this year at China's Spring Festival Gala. If you recall. So the Spring Festival gala is broadcast on CCTV, it's a national broadcaster, and had this segment of robots performing kung fu and doing elaborate stunts on stage. That really made people take notice because of the progress that had been made in the humanoid technology.

So yeah, people might say, you know, humanoid is a bit gimmicky. Yeah, we see them dance and do all these things. But speaking to a lot of experts, they say it's not so much about these performative things, but it's really the possibility of what could happen next when you can apply that kind of dexterity with robots to say factories or to doing other sort of tasks that humans used to have to do.

Robin Pomeroy: You use the word performative. Yeah, it can be fun to watch robots dance or do martial arts. But in fact, I'm just not convinced that everyone wants a humanoid robot butler. I'm really not. I think a lot of companies still think we all want one. I definitely don't want one, I mean I have a robot that does the washing up, it's a dishwasher, technology's a bit, okay, I have to put the dishes in and take them out.

Olivia Siong: How about a robot vacuum?

Robin Pomeroy: I've got one of those.

Olivia Siong: And it still gets stuck.

Robin Pomeroy: I've got one of those, but I think the robots that can really sense their surroundings and make intelligent decisions, that can be very interesting. We're not sure on all the applications for that yet, but these are the things that will be discussed.

Shall we have a quick look, Olivia, at some of the things happening later today?

On technology, there is a session at 11.30 local time called when cars became software. That's an interesting one. So in China you have dozens, I believe hundreds, of car manufacturers and including companies that are very involved in software in mobile phone technology this kind of thing cars are no longer just machines now. They're very smart, right?

Olivia Siong: Yeah, exactly. Recently, our team here in Beijing covered the Beijing Auto Show, which is, this edition of it this year was the world's largest auto show.

And what really stood out is, again, if you compared it to the previous edition, where talk was about, yeah, you know, electric vehicles are going to become more commonplace, more people are going be buying them or driving them. Now the competition with Chinese manufacturers is really about the kind of technology that they are offering, the AI offerings, that it can self-park, that it could navigate complex scenarios, AI agents being made available.

And that's something that we have been, our team really has been looking out for, and there are so many auto shows happening, and the competition between the Chinese car brands are just so fierce. And that's just domestically.

You talk about that price war. But what's also interesting, I think, here will be to look at how they are positioning themselves as exports become a much bigger thing for these car brands, given that the domestic market is slowing down. Right.

Robin Pomeroy: Yeah, it's a mature market.

Olivia Siong: Yeah.

Robin Pomeroy: They're looking for new markets.

Olivia Siong: Plus the tensions with Europe.

Robin Pomeroy: Well, exactly. I mean, the trade tensions.

What's this session called? When Cars Became Software. So I think that also trade tensions on a global scale, with Europe, certainly with the United States. There's going to be a major theme here, I would assume, as we talk. None of this has started yet. Let's see what comes up.

So that's a session called When Cars Became Software, 11.30 local time. You can watch that live. It will be live streamed. You can watching on catch up whenever. It will remain on the World Economic Forum's website.

Here's another one on tech. One at 2.30 in the afternoon, No Power, No AI. So that will be looking then at the demand, the electricity demand from AI. That's a big issue you must have covered on your shows as well, right, Olivia?

Olivia Siong: Yeah, the energy transition is huge, and especially with the tensions in the Middle East and what we saw with the Strait of Hormuz, that is of key interest to Asia.

China, interestingly, was not as affected by it because it has really beefed up its renewable energy supply. So that is of interest, and I know on that panel, the boss of CATL, the battery maker, which is really at the forefront of that is going to be speaking. So yeah, I have definitely amounted that down on my calendar.

Robin Pomeroy: So that one is at 1430 local time. Let's see a couple of others.

We mentioned energy transition. Part of that is driven by concerns about the environment and climate change and there is a session on that called Nature is Infrastructure at 1130 Chinese time.

Environment, is that something you cover?

Olivia Siong: It's kind of all intertwined, right? Like when you talk about electricity and energy and then what it does to the environment, there are climate goals that China also has. Yeah, so it's interesting because all these topics are so interlinked.

Robin Pomeroy: What's Next for the Middle East is at 4pm this afternoon. I guess you just mentioned the Strait of Hormuz. It's been a world, possibly a world-changing event, what happened there.

Last week's full edition of Radio Davos was about the global energy transition and we really focused on, will that Strait of Hormuz issue, which, you know, as we record this, it's kind of on again, off again, has it been solved, is the Strait of Hormuz... whatever happens, what next for the Middle East is a good question to be asking. And so that's one to look out for then at 4 p.m.

Another one, I'll just mention one more, The Next Billion Jobs also at 4p.m, but if you're watching one live, you can watch that one on catchup later.

The issue of jobs is really important, particularly when we are at a moment of quite a lot of uncertainty of what the impact of artificial intelligence will be on jobs.

What's your outlook on the way AI will affect jobs?

Olivia Siong: The big question that I've been trying to get a sense of, especially with the people we are talking to, is are businesses coming in to this forum or to this next chapter with more AI anxiety or more AI excitement? And maybe it's a bit of both.

China on its part just last week also released a new paper on ensuring employment first, especially when it comes to this AI push. So clearly jobs are of concern, but it also feels like this push is, the AI push is received very differently in different parts of the world.

I think in the West, we see a lot more talk or concern about, you know, replacement, maybe even slowing down some of this AI development to ensure that jobs are protected.

But maybe here in China, the sense is that AI is going full steam ahead and that with it, they're going to get more people to buy AI products so that it can boost its economy, but then also giving that assurance that there will be jobs, but also remember that China has an ageing population, so tech could help with some of that. So it's really complex. It's hard to wrap my head around it. Hopefully there's some clarity after these few days.

Robin Pomeroy: Okay, we're looking for the rest of week. There are other things that, so beyond today, you've got Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday as well? Are there other things you'll be looking out for here?

Olivia Siong: Yeah, there's a panel that I'm doing on ageing, which I'm really looking forward to because there's so much talk about AI, and yet, yes, that is going to affect everyone, but at the same time, existing problems have not gone away, like ageing.

And when we think of ageing, it's not just about people who are old now, it affects everyone across our lifespan. So that's something I'll be looking out for.

Definitely also very interested in anything that's related to China's future innovation tech moves. There are sessions on biomedicine and very advanced research and pharmaceuticals because China is moving so fast in pushing out new medicines so what's next?

There are so many industries. I know there's a lot of talk about AI, but I think there are these pockets of topics and issues that we should also be paying attention to.

Robin Pomeroy: And so the focus of this meeting, AMNC26, a lot of it is on innovation and scaling up that innovation to bring it to market, to bring to people.

And as part of that, the World Economic Forum is publishing today the Top 10 Emerging Technologies of the year. Radio Davos will have a separate full-length episode on that, a video podcast today. I'll be playing a clip of that after my conversation with you.

But Olivia, where can people find your work? If people want to watch some of your shows, maybe not watch them before, where they can go?

Olivia Siong: Well, you can visit our website. We have a team here that's working very hard to bring you all the latest from the Summer Davos. We have many interviews and stories lined up. You can get that on our website, cna.asia. We're also on social media. You can catch our live stream on YouTube, as well as on TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn. You'll find us there.

Robin Pomeroy: Great. Olivia, thanks for joining us so much.

Olivia Siong: Thanks for having me.

Robin Pomeroy: Radio Davos Daily will be back tomorrow morning for a rundown of day two at AMNC26. And today we have that full-length episode on the Top 10 Emerging Tech, 10 technologies that might change the world in the next five years. Here's a quick clip from that show.

Kimmy Bettinger, Expert and Knowledge Communities Lead, World Economic Forum: Every year there are a few scientific advances that reach the moment where they're ready to change the world. And this report is how we find and share them.

We've been publishing the report for 14 years. So we have a really exciting corpus of technologies that we can look back on and understand what scaled, what solved, and what might still be to come.

Robin Pomeroy: You have a great corpus of work. We have a good corpus of podcasts as well, and viewers can go back. I think for the last six of these reports, we've done really interesting podcasts.

It's one of my favourite episodes of Radio Davos of the year, because what you've got here are 10 technologies that a jury of experts has decided, because there must be hundreds, thousands of technologies that are being worked on, but you've stripped it down to 10. Just tell us how that comes about, this list of 10.

Kimmy Bettinger: You're right. We start with a really broad list of technologies. We're scanning across many academic fields, many industry sectors, and we get the chance to then talk to the world leading experts in different fields to understand how might we think about this set of technologies, which ones really have momentum. And then we go back and look at some of the quantitative signals, too.

We're looking at things like how is this moving in academia? What sort of funding are we seeing? How many patents are we seeing in this space right now? And how's that starting to accelerate.

From there, we take the list to our advisory council. This is a group of world leading experts that sit across a wide range of kind of innovation spaces, and they help us select that final 10.

And really that advisory council is helping us think about impact. Not only which technologies are most likely to scale. But which ones will be most consequential for the world should they get to mainstream adoption.

Robin Pomeroy: That's why this list is so interesting. It's not just 10 cool ideas. These are 10 technologies which, according to your expert council, could be scaling up in the next five years and could have a big impact. So it's actually not just cool tech, it is cool tech, but it could have big impacts on real lives.

I'm going to talk to you a bit more about this idea of scaling of technologies a bit later, but why don't we just crack on and we're going to go through the top 10. I think we'll talk about scaling halfway through the list. Remind me that's our plan.

As we set off at the bottom of this mountain of 10 things, small mountain, here we go one by one through the report. I'm going to read out what the technology is and you're going tell me all about it.

Kimmy Bettinger: Okay.

Robin Pomeroy: Number one on the list, and they're not in any particular order, right? This is just the way you put them together in the report, it's about energy. It's everything to grid energy. What is that?

Robin Pomeroy: No spoilers! Find out what the top 10 emerging technologies are on the full-length episode of Radio Davos available wherever you're listening to this, on any podcast app.

Radio Davos Daily will be back tomorrow for Day 2 of the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, AMNC26, but for now from me thanks to you for listening and goodbye.