Davos

1. China’s “grim” economy
2. Today’s WEF agenda
3. Must-reads
4. Monday’s highlights
5. Guest List
6. Texting with Ian Bremmer

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China’s Davos play

Davos may have turned into a big-money event but its roots are in geopolitics. It can be a coming-out party, as when India’s Narendra Modi arrived in 2018 pushing a muscular vision for the world’s fifth-biggest economy, or a plea to the international community, as when Ukraine’s first lady pleaded with attendees to “use this influence” last year.

This year, the surprise is China, which is sending its largest delegation since 2017, when Xi Jinping last came. In a speech, he vigorously defended the globalization that had powered the Chinese economy and warned against “locking oneself in a dark room.”

Since then, the pandemic and Xi’s posturing have left China increasingly isolated. Western CEOs have deemed the country “uninvestable,” rattled by raids on private businesses and the threat that the squishy line between private property and state property might disappear altogether. In the third quarter of 2023, foreign investors withdrew $12 billion from the country, the first net outflows in a generation.

“The data are undeniably grim,” Chatham House’s David Lubin writes. “Chinese firms are investing more abroad than foreign firms are investing in China, and foreign firms now seem unwilling to invest in China at all.”

Today, Chinese Premier Li Qiang will deliver a speech that’s expected to try to woo them back. Congress Centre, 10:50 am, and streamed live.

— Liz Hoffman

What’s On Today

7:00 am: Semafor’s Liz Hoffman moderates a breakfast conversation on the energy transition with the President of S&P Global Ratings, Martina Cheung, and Jason Bordoff, Executive Director, Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy.

10:50 am: Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaks at the Congress Centre.

11:15 am: Semafor’s Reed Albergotti moderates a panel on AI safety that includes two of the most prominent voices in either side of the debate: Meta’s Yann LeCun and Max Tegmark, president of the Future of Life Institute. AI House, Promenade 68.

12 pm: Longevity Investors’ Lunch. It’s the kind of thing that everyone thinks happens secretly at Davos but which actually happens openly at Davos: trying to figure out how to live forever, and get rich doing it. Hotel Seehoff, Promenade 159.

4:30 pm: Meet Sophia the Robot at the Ahura AI House, Promenade 118. “A bold step towards a future where AI and human creativity coalesce.”

6:30 pm: Private wine tasting with corporate cybersecurity ninja Alex Yampolskiy, who will warn you not to use the Davos wi-fi. Hard Rock Hotel.

6:30 pm: Greece celebrates its recent return to investment-grade status after 12 years in junk land.Greek House, Promenade 63.

9:00 pm: Anthony Scaramucci’s 12th Annual Skybridge Wine Party at the Hotel Europe Tonic Piano Bar. Get there early to beat the absolute mob.

Must-Reads

“The humiliation of Davos Man” is just getting started, Walter Russsell Mead suggests, sneering at the forum’s promise to “rebuild trust.” He writes: “This isn’t, at its core, a crisis of trust. It is a crisis of competence…. ‘The emperor has no clothes!’ is the cry of populists everywhere. To render this message ineffective, Davos Man doesn’t need image consultants and disinformation specialists. He needs to get dressed.”

We cringe on several axes at once: “AI fever takes over Davos pushing crypto aside as the new cool kid on the block.”

The only people who really can’t stay away from Davos, curiously, are the populists, as Trump acolyte Kevin Roberts reminds us in his essay, “Why I Am Going to Davos.”

“Marc Benioff shares his best Davos tip: post up at the top of a staircase at the Davos Congress Centre for an hour a day, and wait for the “serendipity” to happen. That and more networking advice in The Wall Street Journal.

U.S. diplomats are scrambling to offset the size and seniority of the Chinese delegation, led by Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Politico got its hands on a State Department memo urging U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to at least get a handshake with senior Swiss officials, to match similar meetings Li is having.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov waves off the Davos peace plan: “This process cannot be aimed at achieving any specific results for the obvious reason — we are not participating.”

Monday’s Highlights

Former U.S. Senator Rob Portman was at Ukraine House urging serious deterrence: “Either you pay now, or you pay later — but much more dearly… If Vladimir Putin has his way and occupies Ukraine, there are four additional NATO countries around the border with Russia — countries with whom we have an Article 5 obligation.”

Russian bugbear Bill Browder’s annual dinner included a Ukrainian delegation with a “you’re next” warning, plus at least three people who’ve been sanctioned by the Kremlin, plus the Mooch.

At the famous Monday night poobah dinner gathering hosted by Lally Weymouth and Yossi Vardi, impromptu emcee David Rubenstein asked Zhu Min, a former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, what China thinks of the election outcomes in Taiwan, and whether the election of Lai Ching-te will have any impact on China.

Zhu Min’s response was quick: “None whatsoever. You can get back to enjoying your dinner,” and all laughed.

Others at the dinner include Penny Pritzker, Congressman Dan Kildee, Senator Chris Coons, Tzipi Livini, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Becky Quick, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Ukraine Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova, Michael Wolfe, Australia Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd, Sherrie Westin, Maria Bartiromo, Peter Orszag, Nouriel Roubini, and more.

Al Gore told the Time 100 Dinner at the AlpenGold: “Solving the climate crisis is a polysolution that will help us solve a wide range of crises, and we need inspiration.”

Enough with the private planes already. The WEF would like you to take the train here, and it’ll even spring for the ticket. It wants you to spread the word, too.

Who’s Here

One Good Text

Ian Bremmer is the founder and president of Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm.

Against the backdrop of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., Semafor sets the stage for an extraordinary and unparalleled meeting of the minds featuring preeminent figures and power brokers across the global economy. With 150 speakers across two days and three different stages, including the Gallup Great Hall, the 2024 World Economy Summit will showcase the most influential economic and business decision makers in the world, coming together for unmissable on-the-record conversations on the state of the global economic landscape.

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