As political and business leaders gather in the Swiss town of Davos for this year’s World Economic Forum, scheduled to begin on Monday, analysts expect China to continue positioning itself as a reliable trade partner and supporter of multilateralism – stances drawing an implicit contrast with the United States under President Donald Trump.
This year’s meeting, themed “A Spirit of Dialogue”, will take place amid heightened global tensions in the wake of several controversial actions by Trump’s administration: the abduction of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, a renewed campaign to seize Denmark’s self-ruled territory Greenland and threats of military intervention in Iran.
With Trump drawing widespread condemnation or criticism for these displays of unilateral authority, observers noted he has given Beijing an opening to argue China is a more responsible steward of international norms.
“China could play the role of the ‘good student’ of international law, one that supports multilateralism,” said Sacha Courtial, a China researcher at the Institut Jacques Delors think tank in France.
High-profile Chinese officials have regularly attended the Davos forum. Vice-Premier He Lifeng, Beijing’s point person on economic affairs and lead delegate throughout last year’s trade talks with the US, will deliver a keynote address on Tuesday. Trump, heading a large American delegation, is slated to speak one day later.
The forum, which runs through Friday, regularly draws global political leaders, business elites and highly accomplished academics. In a report published by the forum on Wednesday, participants were surveyed for their opinions on the state of the world. Half agreed that the next two years were likely to be “turbulent or stormy”, an increase of 14 percentage points compared with 2025. A further 40 per cent said the world would be “unsettled” at a minimum.
Hong Kong will also be sending a delegation to this year’s summit, with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing chairman Carlson Tong Ka-shing and CEO Bonnie Y. Chan, along with the president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, set to speak at different sessions, according to the official programme.
Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region at French investment bank Natixis, said China would want to highlight the differences between itself and the US at the forum, framing itself as predictable and its chief rival as a bully.
But, she added, officials might not want to focus on geopolitics and instead opt to emphasise economic issues – a priority suggested by the choice of the vice-premier as representative.
On the economic front, Courtial said China faces various challenges, as it needs to convince foreign investors of the strength and sustainability of its growth model, given persisting issues such as weak domestic demand.
Beijing also needs to calm trade nerves, he said, given that China posted a record US$1.19 trillion trade surplus in 2025.
Europe has raised concerns over its rapidly rising trade deficit with China, with politicians and business leaders in several countries expressing worries that an influx of lower-cost exports will threaten the continent’s bedrock industries.
According to data from China’s customs administration, the country’s trade surplus with the European Union reached US$291.7 billion in 2025, an increase of 18.08 per cent, year on year. Notably, its surplus with Germany increased by 108 per cent in the same year, reaching US$25.4 billion.
During a visit to China in December, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that if Beijing did not address the trade imbalance, Europe would be forced to levy tariffs on Chinese goods – an approach he characterised as “following the example of the United States” in later comments.
China announced earlier this month that it would remove export subsidies for solar panels in April and do the same for batteries next January, but some analysts said they remained doubtful about the extent of the positive effect the move would have on Europe’s industries.
“In this sense, the announcement of the end of state subsidies could be used as a diplomatic lever,” Courtial said. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
