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Behind Summer Davos: WEF Founder Klaus Schwab’s Decades-Long Courtship of China

Every summer, thousands of global business leaders, policymakers, tech innovators, and academics descend upon a Chinese metropolitan hub—alternating between the coastal cities of Dalian and Tianjin. Officially known as the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, this high-profile gathering is more colloquially referred to as "Summer Davos." While the winter meeting in the snowy Swiss Alps remains the crown jewel of the World Economic Forum (WEF), its summer sibling in China represents one of the most significant, calculated, and long-running geopolitical gambits in modern economic history. Behind this massive undertaking lies the vision of one man: WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab. For nearly half a century, Schwab has maintained an unwavering commitment to bringing China into the fold of global governance. This is the story of Schwab’s decades-long courtship of Beijing, the strategic creation of Summer Davos, and how this partnership reshaped the global economic landscape. ---

The Genesis of a Global Bridge: Schwab’s First Contact (1979)

To understand the existence of Summer Davos, one must travel back to 1979. At the time, China was emerging from the isolation of the Cultural Revolution. Under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the country was beginning to whisper of "Reform and Opening Up" (Gaige Kaifang), but to the Western business elite, the communist nation remained an impenetrable, high-risk enigma. Klaus Schwab, a Swiss business professor with an uncanny knack for spotting future geopolitical shifts, saw an opportunity. In 1979, Schwab extended a historic invitation to a Chinese delegation to attend the European Management Forum (the precursor to the WEF) in Davos. Led by prominent economist Qian Junrui, the delegation's arrival marked China's first formal interaction with the global business elite. Later that same year, Schwab traveled to Beijing to sign a formal memorandum of cooperation with the Chinese Enterprise Management Association (now the China Enterprise Confederation). This marked the beginning of a institutional relationship that would outlast cold wars, economic crises, and leadership transitions. ---

The Philosophy of "Stakeholder Capitalism" Meets State Capitalism

Schwab’s courtship of China was not merely transactional; it was deeply rooted in his signature philosophy of stakeholder capitalism. This theory posits that corporations should serve not just their shareholders, but all of society—including employees, customers, communities, and the environment. In Schwab’s view, global challenges could not be solved without the inclusion of all major players, regardless of their political systems. He argued that isolating a nation of over one billion people was a recipe for global instability. For Beijing, Schwab’s platform was highly attractive: A Neutral Stage: Unlike Western governments, which often conditioned engagement on human rights or political reforms, the WEF offered a neutral, business-first environment. Direct Access to Capital: It provided a direct pipeline to Fortune 500 CEOs, international investors, and economic advisors. Legitimacy: Participation in Davos signaled to the world that China was ready to play by the rules of global commerce. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Schwab systematically integrated Chinese officials into the WEF ecosystem. When China faced international isolation following the geopolitical events of 1989, Schwab maintained the forum’s open-door policy, quietly keeping the channels of communication open between Beijing and Western capital. ---

The Birth of "Summer Davos" (2007)

By the early 2000s, China’s economic engine was roaring. Following its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the country became the "world's factory." Recognizing that China was no longer just a participant in global markets but a primary driver of them, Schwab proposed a bold new initiative: a second annual WEF meeting, to be held permanently in China. In 2007, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions was born.

Why "New Champions"?

While the winter meeting in Switzerland focused on established global giants and geopolitical leaders, the Chinese iteration was designed to highlight the "New Champions"—fast-growing, disruptive companies, technological innovators, and emerging startups from both the West and the East.

The Battle of the Host Cities

Instead of choosing Beijing or Shanghai, the Chinese government and the WEF decided on a unique hosting arrangement. They chose Dalian (a vital northeastern port city) and Tianjin (a major industrial hub near Beijing) to alternate hosting duties. This decision showcased China’s regional development strategies and modern infrastructure beyond its primary economic capitals. Summer Davos quickly became a premier networking hub. It allowed Western multinational executives to see China's rapid modernization firsthand, while giving Chinese tech startups and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) unprecedented access to international partners. ---

Xi Jinping’s Historic 2017 Davos Address: The Climax of Integration

The pinnacle of Schwab’s decades-long effort occurred in January 2017. With the United States undergoing a protectionist shift under the newly elected Trump administration, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first-ever appearance at the winter meeting in Davos. Standing alongside Klaus Schwab, President Xi delivered a defense of economic globalization that echoed the core tenets of the WEF: > "Whether you like it or not, the global economy is the big ocean that you cannot escape from. Any attempt to cut off the flow of capital, technologies, products, industries and people between economies, and channel the waters in the ocean back into isolated lakes and creeks is simply not possible." For Schwab, this moment was the ultimate validation of his strategy. The leader of the world’s largest communist party had stood in the heart of Europe as the preeminent defender of the free-market globalist order. Schwab lauded Xi’s speech, cementing a mutual alignment on global governance and multilateralism. ---

Strategic Benefits: What Both Sides Gained

The partnership between Klaus Schwab’s WEF and the Chinese state has yielded immense mutual benefits over the years.

What the WEF Gained:

Global Relevance: By securing China’s participation, the WEF cemented its status as the world's most influential convening power. No other international organization could boast such consistent access to top-tier Chinese leadership. Financial Growth: Sponsorships from rapidly growing Chinese tech giants (such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei) injected significant capital into the WEF’s operations. The "Global South" Bridge: China served as a gateway for the WEF to expand its influence across emerging markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

What Beijing Gained:

Soft Power Amplification: Summer Davos provided a world-class platform to project China’s narrative of peaceful rise, technological innovation, and green transition directly to global decision-makers. Policy Soft Launching: Chinese Premiers have historically used their keynote speeches at Summer Davos to announce major economic reforms, stimulus packages, or investment initiatives. * Integration with the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The WEF’s focus on emerging technologies (AI, biotechnology, green energy) aligned perfectly with Beijing’s "Made in China 2025" and subsequent economic modernization strategies. ---

Geopolitical Headwinds: Navigating the New Era of De-Risking

Today, the relationship between the WEF and China faces its most complex challenges yet. The era of unchecked globalization that characterized the early decades of Schwab’s courtship has given way to an era of "de-risking," trade wars, and heightened national security concerns. Western governments are increasingly skeptical of China’s economic practices, data security policies, and geopolitical ambitions. Consequently, some Western CEOs have become more cautious about their public associations with Chinese state-backed events. Simultaneously, critics of the WEF have accused the organization of being too accommodating of Beijing’s authoritarian model, arguing that the pursuit of "stakeholder capitalism" has sometimes come at the cost of addressing systemic human rights concerns or intellectual property disputes. Despite these headwinds, the WEF under Schwab has doubled down on engagement. At recent Summer Davos events, the focus has shifted toward topics where cooperation remains absolutely critical for both sides, such as climate change, green energy transition, and global healthcare protocols. ---

A Legacy of Interconnectedness

As Klaus Schwab prepares to transition his leadership role at the World Economic Forum, his legacy will inevitably be linked to the rise of China on the world stage. Through nearly fifty years of diplomatic pragmatism, Schwab refused to view China through a purely ideological lens. Instead, he saw a rising superpower that needed to be integrated into the global order to prevent catastrophic fragmentation. Summer Davos remains the living, breathing monument to this vision. It stands as a testament to a time when a Swiss professor bet on the transformation of a closed economy, forever changing the trajectory of global business. Whether this bridge can withstand the gathering storms of the 21st century's new Cold War remains to be seen, but its construction will go down as one of the most successful diplomatic maneuvers in modern history.