What’s new: Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting next week, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday.
Liu was invited by Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. It will be the vice premier’s first appearance at the forum since 2018.
This will be the first time in the three years since the outbreak the Covid-19 pandemic that the annual conference will return to its traditional in-person format at its usual time. The forum switched to a virtual meeting the last two years.
The background: Nineteen central bank heads and 56 finance ministers will also figure among participants as more than 2,700 politicians, executives, bankers and academics discuss “cooperation in a fragmented world,” with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the energy crisis it exacerbated continuing to create uncertainty.
The program of the 53rd annual meeting focuses on solutions and public-private cooperation to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, the organizer said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the only Group of Seven leader coming. The U.S. is sending Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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