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DAVOS-SUMMIT-ECONOMY
China, Europe follow Brazil’s Bolsonaro onto Davos stage
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 23, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – China and Europe take centre
stage at Davos on Wednesday, a day after Brazil’s hard-right President Jair
Bolsonaro promised reform and respect for the environment to the world’s
business elite.
Top billing at the World Economic Forum will go to Chinese Vice President
Wang Qishan, a key member of the communist leadership in Beijing who is
tasked with negotiating a truce in the US-China trade war.
The annual conference in the Alpine ski resort was originally expected to
see the two sides hold contacts on trade, but that was before the White House
cancelled the US delegation’s trip due to the government shutdown in
Washington.
Beyond the trade war, Davos-goers are also concerned about the economic
slowdown in China.
Economic experts predict growth of about six percent in China for 2019,
which is still relatively strong, but below the country’s stellar rates of
recent years.
Wang will be watched closely to see if Beijing has plans for stimulus or
to liberalise the economy in order to restore ebbing investor confidence.
Europe also lands on the Davos agenda, with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel making her traditional visit to the forum to promote the continent’s
leading economy.
Merkel comes to Davos weakened after being forced out of the leadership of
her CDU party last year. She plans to leave office by 2020.
The Europeans come to Davos under the cloud of Brexit, with Britain’s plan
to divorce from the European Union blocked in parliament.
Prime Minister Theresa May pulled out of the conference to handle Brexit
as did the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, both eager to avoid a “no
deal” exit on March 29.
But May’s international trade secretary, Liam Fox, is one of a clutch of
cabinet members who have made the trip to reassure investors about Britain’s
post-Brexit future.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after a recent trip to London to press
May to secure a deal with Brussels, will also address the Davos audience on
Wednesday.
The younger generation of European leadership will be represented by
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who was thrust unexpectedly to power in
June after a parliamentary vote of no confidence in his predecessor.
But his government has so far been troubled by the Catalan independence
crisis and its reliance on the far left for its majority in parliament.
Sanchez will meet with top executives from US tech giants, including
Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook, with Madrid’s controversial decision to tax
Silicon Valley on sales certain to be on the agenda.
The EU is struggling to agree a bloc-wide tax on tech giants such as
Facebook and Google. Several European countries — including Spain, France
and Britain — are now looking to impose their own taxes.
BSS/AFP/HR/0925