10th Annual Meeting of the New Champions to be Held in Tianjin

By staff reporter XING WEN

MORE than 1,700 prominent leaders of the public and private sectors of 90 countries will convene from 26 to 28 June, 2016 at a meeting in Tianjin, according to the recent press conference on the 10th Annual Meeting of the New Champions held in Beijing. "The Fourth Industrial Revolution and its transformational impact" is the theme of the meeting.

"Our future depends on being able to understand and positively shape the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to make it serve humankind as a whole. This means understanding the opportunities that come with new technological breakthroughs but also re-thinking our rules and values to ensure the decisions we take benefit the global good. The new champions that will gather in Tianjin are the innovators, entrepreneurs and principled leaders who will help us navigate this profound shift in human history," chief representative officer of Greater China and managing director of World Economic Forum David Aikman said.

The 2016 program will focus on major transformations wrought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution as reflected in three distinct dimensions -- redesigning systems, reshaping growth, and rethinking innovation – which will be the topics of its 200 or more meetings.

"Five key development concepts – innovation, coordination, greening, opening-up, and sharing – are laid down in China's newly approved 13th Five-Year Plan. Major efforts are afoot to boost innovation and advance supply-side structural reform," deputy director-general of China's National Development and Reform Commission Liang Linchong said. "China's endeavors correspond well to the theme of this year's Annual Meeting of the New Champions. It is our hope that discussions at the meeting will shed light on how to ensure China's quality economic growth as well as a healthy and sustainable global economic growth in the long term," he added.

"Through a fresh perspective and innovative thinking, Tianjin will do its best to take this year's Annual Meeting of the New Champions to a higher level. We expect it to be yet another success, and most of all see it as an opportunity for Tianjin to represent China as an innovative economy amid transformation. With the help of the new 13th Five-Year Plan, Tianjin, along with the rest of China, is on its way to a new prosperity powered by innovation," vice mayor of Tianjin Zhao Haishan said.  

Established in 2007, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions is acknowledged as the foremost global gathering on science, technology, and innovation. As such, it acts as a platform for government and business leaders as well as those in academia, civil society and the arts to deepen their understanding of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and advance solutions that deliver positive and transformational changes.