World leaders, business elites to discuss globalization 4.0 in Davos（2）

Ueli Maurer, president of the Swiss Confederation, speaks at the first plenary session of the 49th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (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]

This year's event came as risks hang over global growth, with rising nationalism, and protectionism, and political uncertainties in rich countries. US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron are absent from the forum due to their domestic difficulties.

In a report released before the annual meeting, the WEF said that rising geopolitical and geo-economic tensions are the most urgent risk in 2019, with experts predicting further economic confrontation between major powers in 2019 and erosion of multilateral trading rules and agreements.

Reflecting on the troubling status quo of globalization, China's stance on globalization will be worth attention, analysts said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Davos in 2017 that the global economy is "the big ocean that you cannot escape from" and any attempt to retreat back to isolation runs counter to the historical trend.

One major solution offered by China to help tackle global challenges and build an open and more inclusive economy is the Belt and Road Initiative, said Martin Albrow, a renowned sociologist and a pioneer of the theory of globalization.

Proposed by China in 2013, the initiative is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.