2023-06-30 13:28:58
– Nobody talks regarding the real problems here
Important questions are hardly ever addressed at the «Summer Davos». Austria’s ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, of all people, is responsible for the highlight of the meeting in Tianjin.
Florian A. Müller
Published today at 3:28 p.m
There is a lot of ceremonial pomp at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Tianjin. However, solutions to the pressing problems are not found. Not even from WEF founder Klaus Schab (3rd from left) and Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang (4th from right)
Photo: EPA, Keystone
Slowly at first, then faster and faster, the drummers let their sticks swish down. Projectors project characters onto half-silk screens. Behind them, dancers in long-sleeved robes flex their limbs, their faces sprayed silver. Meanwhile, the scent of incense sticks rises.
All of this is intended to take the audience back to the time when the emperors still ruled in China. At that time, according to the opening credits, envoys from all over the world came to her court to pay tribute. These are diplomatic relations that suit China’s current long-time ruler Xi Jinping.
Paying tribute to China’s importance is the purpose of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Tianjin. The event is also called “Summer Davos”, following the annual model event in winter in Switzerland. For the first time following a three-year Corona break, the three-day event might take place once more on site, and it ended on Thursday.
The program included nothing less than the search for solutions to the poor global economic prospects and the great power conflict between the USA and host China. And in between Tai Chi exercises and propagandistic theater, called the cultural program. However, for all participants agreeing that communication is key, there was very little talk regarding the actual issues.
The world and the flagging Chinese economy “enlighten”
Prime Minister Li Qiang opened the forum. He has just returned from his trip to Europe in Germany and France and is now supposed to “enlighten” the audience with his view of the world and the ailing Chinese economy, as WEF founder Klaus Schwab puts it.
Anyone who had hoped that Li would have a greater understanding of European concerns following his trip was quickly disappointed: “Some in the West” would overdo it with the “talk regarding de-risking,” he said. Mutual dependencies are good. Reducing economic risks is not the task of governments, but of companies. Those in government should “not turn risks into ideological tools”.
All the same, things are looking good in terms of economic development. The appeal for more entrepreneurial personal responsibility from the mouth of the head of government in a country with huge state-owned companies is remarkable. Likewise, the defense of mutual dependencies, when self-sufficiency in key technologies in China is now a raison d’etat. Finally, the call for less ideology seems absurd if only because of the collected works by Xi Jinping, which were prominently displayed in the entrance area of the event hall and in the press area.
A handshake for the photographers: The founder of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab meets the Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang.
Photo: EPA, Keystone
At least Li Qiang had good news for economic development: economic growth in the second quarter will exceed the 4.5 percent of the first quarter, and annual growth will reach the target of around five percent. However, even Chinese economists pointed out at the forum that growth in the same period last year was catastrophic due to the lockdown in Shanghai, so the threshold is low. And that the current state measures, despite Li’s assurances, are not sufficient to solve the structural problems such as youth unemployment, the crisis in the real estate sector and a lack of confidence in the future of consumers was also a consensus away from the podiums.
The city of Tianjin, which has a population of 14 million, shows how little the Chinese government can do. There are construction cranes everywhere, the container port is fully automated thanks to Huawei technology, and the floodlit skyscrapers and bridges on the Shark River sparkle at night. But if you take a closer look, you can see rust spots. The “China 117 Tower”, for example, is one of the tallest buildings in the world at almost 600 meters – the tallest unused building, to quote the “Guinness Book of World Records”. Because the construction of the tower, which began in 2008, was never completed, the top third is a reinforced concrete skeleton and a memorial to the desolate economic situation. Unemployment is high and the local government is heavily indebted. New ideas are in demand.
High-profile western business leaders are rarely present
Foreign investors would be most welcome. But following three years of a zero-Covid lockdown policy and growing tensions around Taiwan, they are frightened. There are hardly any top-class western business leaders among the forum participants. Political prominence also stayed away from the meeting, and even the Iranian foreign minister canceled at short notice. New Zealand’s Chris Hopkins was the only Western head of government to show up briefly. As a thank you, there was an audience with Xi Jinping, together with colleagues from Barbados, Vietnam and Mongolia.
So it was up to Austria’s ex-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, of all people, to represent the European perspective on China’s New Silk Road Initiative – and unintentionally to initiate the most revealing moment of the forum. He came out as a fan, because China creates jobs and growth with its foreign investments. After the panel consisting of three Chinese, Kurz and the Minister of Trade from Zimbabwe agreed in detail on how “green” the initiative is now, how much it “connects hearts” and sends a “ray of light” into dark Africa, the Moderator still a question from the audience.
It came from a young man from Sri Lanka. However, he did not go into China’s role in his country’s debt crisis, but rather how India might be brought on board in Xi’s heart project. Now you have to know that China and India are archenemies and every expression of opinion has to be approved by the highest authority. In his distress, the moderator asked Sebastian Kurz, whose cluelessness was written all over his face. He looked around helplessly at the panel, but not a peep from the Chinese. So Kurz shrugs his shoulders and says: “No answer is also an answer.”
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