Annual Meeting of the New Champions to focus on inclusive growth this year

(A pre-session press conference on the 11th Annual Meeting of the New Champions held in Beijing on June 20)

BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) – The 11th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, scheduled to open in Dalian, northeast China on June 27 will focus on inclusive growth in the fourth industrial revolution.

Established in 2007, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions has become the foremost gathering on science, technology and innovation. It serves as a platform for people to deepen their understanding of the fourth industrial revolution.

This year, the meeting will focus on how technology and policy innovations can be deployed to accelerate the transition towards a more inclusive style of economic growth that prioritizes meaningful job creation and sustainable development.

“Technology and innovation have a huge role to play in helping build societies that are resilient, prosperous and inclusive. The Annual Meeting of the New Champions is unique not only in its ability to equip leaders with the insights needed to successfully navigate this period of change, but also in the way it convenes leaders from all stakeholder groups. We hope in this way that it provides leaders with a platform to build meaningful, multi-stakeholder partnerships to address the critical challenges our world faces,” said David Aikman, Chief Representative Officer, Greater China, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.

“The Annual Meeting of the New Champions is an important platform for Dalian and China. Dalian is honored to successfully host five of the last 10 meetings. Dalian municipal government attaches great importance to preparation of this year’s meeting with new innovative ideas in order to ensure that the meeting can best present the city as well as of the international standard,” said Lu Lin, vice mayor of Dalian.

“The theme of this year’s meeting reflects a strong will of the international community to share the opportunities and face the challenges arising from technological innovation together. We expect the discussions and insights on the impact of the fourth industrial revolution to bring us valuable inspiration and suggestions on how to build the world economy to be more creative, inclusive and sustainable,” said Liang Linchong, deputy director general, International Cooperation Department of China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The 2017 program focuses on four thematic tracks that will shape more than 200 sessions over the three-day meeting, including scaling up human-centered technology, leading continuous reinvention, creating sustainable systems and responding to geo-economic shifts.(Edited by Duan Jing, duanjing@xinhua.org)