World leaders, business elites to discuss globalization 4.0 in Davos

Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), speaks at the first plenary session of the 49th Annual Meeting of WEF in Davos, Switzerland, Jan 22, 2019. The 49th WEF Annual Meeting will be held on Jan 22-25 this year in Davos. [Photo/Xinhua]

World leaders and business elites gathered on Tuesday in Davos to discuss globalization 4.0, a buzzword that means a new wave of globalization in a digital world.

More than 3,000 participants braved the winter chills and icy roads to the snow-covered Swiss resort for the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, a leading platform for global economic affairs.

More than 60 heads of state or government, 40 international organization heads and 1,700 business leaders will attend this year's event that runs through Friday, themed Globalization 4.0: Shaping a Global Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Addressing the opening ceremony, WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said participants at the meeting will have to look at all the global challenges and shape the future of the world over the next four days.

In an increasingly interconnected world, globalization 4.0 has to be human-centered, more inclusive, and more sustainable, Schwab said, adding that much emphasis was put on environmental issues at the forum.

In an article published on the US magazine Foreign Affairs, Schwab wrote, like its predecessors, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is best described by its leading technologies: artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things.

"In this world, globalization won't disappear; it will deepen. If in the past global integration grew as trade barriers came down, it will now rely on the connectivity of national digital and virtual systems and the related flow of ideas and services. This is the core of Globalization 4.0," he wrote.