Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a robust defence of globalisation to business, government and civil society leaders in the opening plenary session of the 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. China, Xi said, is committed to fulfilling its international responsibilities and contributing to addressing pressing global challenges, including climate change, the need for new drivers of economic growth and creating jobs in the face of the emerging technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Many of the problems troubling the world are not caused by economic globalisation,” Xi pointed out, citing the global refugee crisis as an example. “There is no point in blaming economic globalisation for the world’s problems, as that is not the case and will not help with solving the problems,” he said.

But, Xi warned, “We should recognise that economic globalisation is a double-edged sword. The pitfalls of economic globalisation have been laid bare and we need to take these seriously.” He added: “Nothing is perfect in the world. It is true that economic globalisation has created new problems. But this is no justification to write off economic globalisation altogether.” Xi recalled that China had at first doubted the wisdom of joining the World Trade Organisation, but had bravely gone ahead with membership and determined that it was the right strategic choice. “If one is always afraid of the bracing storm, one will get drowned in the ocean sooner or later,” he said.

Xi called for efforts to rebalance economic globalisation so that all people share in its benefits. This will require more effective international cooperation and new models of global governance, bold action and a commitment to avoid protectionism. “We should not develop the habit of retreating to the harbour whenever encountering a storm.” Referring to the threat of protectionism, he predicted that “nobody will emerge as a winner in a trade war.”

President Xi also stressed that China will continue its economic reforms and opening up, and will maintain its high level of economic growth while pursuing sustainable development. “We know only too well that there is no such thing as a free lunch in the world and that no pie will fall from the sky.”

Reacting to Xi’s speech, Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum’s Founder and Executive Chairman, told participants that it is crucial that globalisation leads to a fair, innovative, open and inclusive world. “We cannot go back to old policies,” he said. “We cannot take recipes which may have worked in the old world but are not working anymore in the new world.”

Earlier, in welcoming remarks, Doris Leuthard, President of the Swiss Confederation 2017 and Federal Councillor of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of Switzerland, warned that nationalism and protectionism, as well as the rise of extremism and conflict, are gaining and challenging the cohesion of the international community. “Each of these problems leads us to perceive the world as more fragile – and the insecurity is spreading.”

With the turbulence created by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Leuthard advised: digitisation must be democratised, just as knowledge was democratised when the printing press was invented.” She underscored the importance of investing in education. “We need to have responsive and responsible leadership to draw the right conclusions and make the right decisions,” She concluded. “To achieve this, we have to rid ourselves of the idea that there is a global solution to these problems. There is never going to be a one-size-fits-all solution.”

The 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is taking place on 17-20 January in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, under the theme Responsive and Responsible Leadership. More than 3,000 participants from nearly 100 countries are participating in over 400 sessions.

The Co-Chairs taking a principal role in shaping the discussion at the meeting, are:

Frans van Houten, President and Chief Executive Officer, Royal Philips, Netherlands

Brian Moynihan, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America Corporation, USA

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Documentary Filmmaker, SOC Films, Pakistan

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children International, United Kingdom

Meg Whitman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, USA