Final day of Davos World Economic Summit

The World Economic Forum’s Virtual Davos Agenda event will end today after a week of meetings involving heads of state, chief executive officers, international civil society leaders and global media.

A highlight of the event was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech calling for multilateralism and greater macroeconomic policy coordination while warning against a “new Cold War”. The speech comes as the world awaits a new phase in US-China relations under US President Joe Biden.

China remains on track to soon surpass the US as the world’s largest economy, although this is largely contingent on the former’s ability to maintain current, often falsified, growth trends. Biden has indicated the US will employ “strategic patience” with respect to Beijing and will conduct internal interagency reviews before committing to a firm China policy.

Expect continued tensions between Beijing and Washington, specifically in dealing with their thorniest issues, including restrictions on telecommunications giant Huawei, data security regarding apps like TikTok, and tariffs on almost $500 billion of products. Still, recent statements by Biden administration officials indicate a likely measured approach towards addressing the challenges posed by China in an effort to develop a “whole-of-government response”, in coordination with US allies.