Sketching new blueprint of global development with new-quality productive forces

The 16th Annual Meeting of New Champions of the World Economic Forum (2025 Summer Davos Forum) was held in Tianjin from June 24 to 26, attracting over 1,700 participants from more than 90 countries and regions worldwide. The five core topics of this year’s meeting—“Interpreting the Global Economy”, “China Outlook”, “Industries in Turbulence”, “Investing in Humanity and the Planet”, and “New Energy and Materials”—are all closely related to the concept of new-quality productive forces. At several sub-forums, new-quality productive forces also became a focal point of discussion.

Amid the current global economic slowdown and high inflation, new-quality productive forces, driven primarily by technological innovation, are promoting global economic development with strong resilience and continuously creating new spaces for international cooperation.

Overcoming Global Bottlenecks, Creating New landscape of Development  

The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Under the combined pressures of insufficient economic recovery momentum, declining potential growth, and the accumulation of systemic risks, unilateralism and protectionism are accelerating the fragmentation of the global economic system. Looking back at history, from the roar of steam engines to the widespread use of electricity, from the information technology revolution to today’s AI era, each transformation in productive forces has propelled the world economy into a period of rapid development.

However, in this emerging technological revolution, the substantial initial technological dividends are gradually fading, inevitably pushing the global economy into a bottleneck period. From a macro perspective, global economic growth remains in a downward trend, and expanding the economic pie has never been more difficult. From a micro perspective, “involution” of companies is becoming increasingly severe, and competition for existing market shares is further intensifying.

This predicament has catalyzed short-sighted self-preservation—some countries are building “small yard, high fence”, resorting to “decoupling” and breaking industrial and supply chains, and engaging in zero-sum games to carve up the global market. The result can only be an increase in the cost of global economic operations, fragmentation of industrial and supply chains, and the escalation of conflicts and disputes, ultimately dragging the world into a vicious cycle where the “economic pie becomes smaller and smaller”.

The key to breaking the deadlock is to broaden our horizons, take new steps, and jointly expand the room for growth, achieving a win-win situation in a larger global economic pie. China’s proposal to develop new-quality productive forces is the key to expanding this space. It will not only better promote China’s own development, but also bring new vitality and momentum to the world economy, driving the recovery and growth of the global economy.

New-quality productive forces mean discarding path dependency and promoting the deep integration of disruptive technologies and industries led by technological innovation. As the world’s second largest economy, China not only regards the development of new-quality productive forces as a requirement for its own high-quality development, but also sees it as a necessary means to drive global economic recovery.

Demonstrating Major Country Responsibility, Deepening Win-Win Cooperation   

New-quality productive forces are the leading force behind the development of strategic emerging industries. China’s rapid development in new energy, new materials, commercial spaceflight, and low-altitude economy is not only leading the new direction of future industrial development but also providing new impetus for global economic growth.

China is firmly committed to its “dual carbon” goals. According to the Global Wind Energy Council’s Global Wind Report 2024, global newly-installed wind power capacity reached a record high of 117 GW in 2023, with a 50% increase. However, excluding China, the global increase in wind power installations was virtually zero.

The Export-Import Bank of China has supported projects such as photovoltaic power stations in Uzbekistan and wind power projects in Ethiopia, mobilizing investments of up to $400 billion. China’s green technologies can not only help alleviate global economic inflation but also contribute to tackling the global climate crisis. New-quality productive forces are driving the rise of emerging markets in the international division of labor, and promoting a multipolar transformation in global governance.

For instance, China advocates for digital trade rules in the reform of the World Trade Organization and collaborates with other Global South countries to seek intellectual property waivers for low-carbon technologies, reducing the cost of green transformation for low-income countries.

New-quality productive forces are breaking traditional market boundaries through digital trade. In 2023, the year-on-year growth of global digitally deliverable services reached 8.5%, accounting for 56.8% of global services trade. China’s cross-border e-commerce platforms also saw the fastest growth in download volumes globally. Meanwhile, the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has promoted tariff exemptions for green products within the region, and set a target for the localization rate of ASEAN’s new energy industry chain to reach 60% by 2030.   

China has always been an advocate and practitioner of an open world economy. In the context of increasing global economic uncertainty, China’s economic growth has remained stable at around 5% (with a 5.4% increase in the first quarter of this year), making it a rare source of stability. The market value of A-shares held by foreign investors in China’s capital market has remained steady at 3 trillion yuan. Relying on international platforms such as the Summer Davos Forum, China will actively promote building a more just, rational, and inclusive global governance system and facilitate the vigorous development of new-quality productive forces worldwide.

China, leveraging new-quality productive forces and embracing openness and inclusiveness, is sketching a new blueprint of win-win cooperation for global development. “Seeking reasonable interests through jointly expanding the economic pie” is not only China’s choice, but also the common answer given by our time to all countries. In the face of uncertainties, cooperation remains the most reliable certainty. China will continue to focus on fields such as scientific and technological innovation, green development, and global governance, further expand its openness and deepen cooperation, working hand in hand with other countries to create a bright future for the world economy.

Contributed by Cai Hongbo, Professor at the School of Economics and Business Administration, Beijing Normal University, and Deputy Dean of the Belt and Road Academy; Cui Mengting, Graduate Student at the School of Economics and Business Administration, Beijing Normal University

Translated by Zheng Yiyang