Fon Mathuros, Head of Media, World Economic Forum, Tel.: +41 79 201 0211, Email: fmathuro@weforum.org
· China needs to overcome its weaknesses in promoting innovation and commercializing technology
· The digital economy can generate employment for workers who have been laid off from jobs in sunset sectors
· The Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2016 is taking place in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, from 26 to 28 June
· Follow the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2016 (#amnc16) at http://wef.ch/amnc16
Tianjin, People’s Republic of China, 26 June 2016 – China urgently needs to upgrade its industries by overcoming insufficient innovation to increase the contribution of technology to economic growth, Chinese business and government leaders concluded at a session on China’s new business context at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2016. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us,” warned Ma Weihua, President of the China Entrepreneur Club. “China faces big changes, including an ageing population. The labour-cost advantage has been reduced. At the same time, the technology revolution is increasing productivity.” Added Ma: “China’s Achilles’ heel is clear – our weakness in innovation and the commercialization of technology. Technology and innovation will increase competitiveness, especially in manufacturing.”
China has to follow the same path as Japan and other industrialized Asian economies, which shifted from manufacturing to more capital- and technology-intensive sectors, reasoned Long Guoqiang, Vice-President of the Development Research Center (DRC) of China’s State Council. “An important aspect of all of this is reform. The lack of reform has stifled demand in these areas for a long time. But this demand has to be tapped. China will create new industries; others may fall, but technologies will help them redevelop. We have to identify the important technologies of the future.” The core of economic reform must be to allow markets to determine the allocation of resources, explained Xu Jinghong, Chairman of Tsinghua Holdings. “To adapt to the changing world, it is necessary to have constant innovation.”
Indications are that China is doing just that, argued Wang Jianzhou, Chairman of the China Association for Public Companies, who noted that Chinese mobile phone production has been climbing the value chain. Today, China accounts for 80% of mobile phones and is able to manufacture all the components and parts required to produce a competitively priced smartphone, Wang observed. “We now have a sound supply chain and ecosystem. This cannot be accomplished overnight. We needed a long time to cultivate the talent and provide the training.”
“The advance of technology is unstoppable,” Liu Zhen, Senior Vice-President and Head, Strategy, China, at Uber Technologies, told participants. “The key for China is to feel empowered by technology and not overwhelmed by it.” The country should embrace the digital economy, which could offer new opportunities such as employment for workers laid-off in sunset sectors, she advised. More and more people are shifting from industry to the services sector, reckoned Ni Ying, Chief Executive Officer in China for human resources group Fesco Adecco. This will mean disruptions – the growing need in the economy for part-time and short-term workers, for example.
The World Economic Forum’s 10th Annual Meeting of the New Champions is taking place on 26-28 June in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China. Convening under the theme, The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Its Transformational Impact, more than1,700 business leaders, policymakers and experts from over 90 countries are participating in more than 200 sessions over the three days of the meeting.
The Co-Chairs of the meeting are: Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development of Canada; Taavet Hinrikus, Chief Executive Officer, TransferWise, United Kingdom; Shirley Ann Jackson, President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), USA; Travis Kalanick, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Uber, USA; Lei Jun, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Xiaomi, People’s Republic of China; Matthew Prince, Chief Executive Officer, Cloudflare, USA; Feike Sijbesma, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Managing Board, Royal DSM, Netherlands; and Wang Chuanfu, Chairman, BYD Company, People’s Republic of China.
Notes to Editors:
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