Guests to the China Development Forum 2025 pose for a group photo on March 23, 2025 in Beijing ahead of the opening ceremony of the forum. Photo: cnsphoto
Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony of the China Development Forum (CDF) 2025, which is being held from Sunday to Monday in Beijing, and delivered a keynote speech. This year's forum, with the theme of "unleashing development momentum for stable growth of global economy," attracted more than 100 representatives both from home and abroad, including entrepreneurs, government officials, experts, scholars and representatives of international organizations, to discuss development and win-win cooperation. Since its first annual meeting, the CDF has gone past a quarter of a century. Through this high-profile international dialogue, China has sent a clear signal to the world: Amid the turbulent global situation, the country has chosen to use the key of "development" to reset the globalization narrative of win-win cooperation.
Right now, the global economic recovery is sluggish, the cloud of trade friction has not dissipated, and there is no lack of clamors for antagonism and confrontation in the arena of international public opinion. However, the convening of the forum has provided ideas to navigate out of the haze. Development is the path to economic growth, the cornerstone of people's happiness, and the antidote to conflicts. While certain countries are busy building walls and drawing lines, caught in the quagmire of the "zero-sum game" mentality, China insists on paving the way and building bridges, and extends a sincere invitation to the world by "comprehensively releasing the kinetic energy of development." As the world's second-largest economy, the country has always promoted the construction of an open world economy based on the concept of universal benefits and inclusiveness. This not only reflects the role of a major country, but also injects valuable stabilizing factors and anticipatory support into the global economy.
Development is the common aspiration of people from all countries, and China is becoming a powerful magnetic field for forging consensus on development. Many people have two prominent feelings about this year's CDF. One is more "new friends" are attending this year's event which sees multinational enterprises from 21 countries. Business executives from US companies Apple and Pfizer, Europe's Siemens and BMW, South Korea's Samsung, Japan's Mizuho Financial Group, as well as companies in Malaysia, Brazil and other Global South countries, are actively participating in the forum. From manufacturing, finance to services, the international business community's "leaders" and "new forces" have gathered in Beijing.
The other is the vibrant "new atmosphere." The release of positive signals from the two sessions about "stimulating domestic demand across the board," "fostering emerging industries and industries of the future," and "broadening international cooperation through further opening-up" has boosted the confidence of multinationals, and more and more people have become more determined to "go long" China.
Over the past few days, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with business executives from companies such as Broadcom, Mercedes-Benz and BMW AG, showing China's determination to continue to expand opening-up. Trending topics, including Samsung and Qualcomm chiefs' visit to Xiaomi's auto plant and Apple CEO climbing to the top of the Jingshan park, convey a positive signal of win-win cooperation to the world. At a time when economic globalization is gaining ground, development has never been a solo act but a symphony of synergy and cooperation among countries. AstraZeneca came to Beijing with $2.5 billion and a plan to build its sixth strategic R&D center globally, BMW and Mercedes-Benz continued to increase their investment in China, and the number of new foreign-invested firms in China last year reached almost 60,000, an increase of 9.9 percent year on year. These are not only a vote of confidence in the Chinese market, but also demonstrate that "development is the absolute principle" has become a resonance of the times.
The CDF is not only a "megaphone" for policy communication, but also a "propeller" for pragmatic cooperation. From science and technology innovation to green development, from consumption boost to financial innovation, the 12 symposiums of the event will cover key issues of the global economy, with "openness" being one of the eye-catching "sub-categories."
While some countries are clamoring for "decoupling" and "supply chain disruption," China has conveyed its determination to defend multilateralism by continuing to open up. DeepSeek's open-source large language model clearly tells the world that economic globalization is not "over." Instead, it is seeing a rebirth in a new generation of technological change.
At this year's forum, people saw a number of "new forces" in China's development, such as Unitree Robotics, Horizon Robotics and RedNote. As China transforms itself from the "global factory" to the "source of innovation," the public goods provided by China's new quality productive forces are increasing the country's appeal in the landscape of an open world.
From actively participating in the international division of labor to becoming a global manufacturing center, from being a catch-up player in specialized fields to a pioneer in cutting-edge technologies, China's development experience contains the initiative to adapt to economic globalization. The fact that economic globalization has made China a success and that China has benefited the world through economic globalization is a persuasive story in itself. No country can stand alone in the face of challenges like climate change, an aging population and the "double-edged sword" of the technological revolution. The CDF is based on sustainable development and brings together the wisdom of all parties to address common challenges. Here, people can see the hope of healing the cracks in the global production and supply chain, as well as the efforts to enhance the certainty of the world economy.
"Let more benefits of development reach everyone in a more equitable way." Amid the complex and volatile international situation, the CDF has conveyed China's determination to deepen reform comprehensively and its sincerity in sharing development opportunities. As the chief of a multinational enterprise said, to take root in China is to invest in the future. China is a "parasol tree" attracting "golden phoenixes" from all over the world. It continues to write a new chapter on win-win cooperation in the era of economic globalization.
