World Economic Forum, Dalian

Excited to have participated, though just for one day. Surprised to know its the third one in China already (once in DL, once in Tianjin). And that there are now multiple satellite events - in India, Sao Paulo, etc. but all are smaller scale vs. the China one which is more global in nature.

Quality of speakers were generally good. Lots of different format. "IdeasLab" is small group, facilitated discussion. "Mentoring session" were Q&A with leading CEOs.

Apparently number of attendants not too far from the real Davos (BTW WEF is known as "Davos" written in Chinese in China! Not WEF). But obviously calibre that goes to Davos is very different. Had to be CEO. No substitute allowed. Only "partners" are allowed to have up to 5 executives attend. All others must be a real CEO and nothing else.

Dalian WEF was created to get more Chinese/Asians to attend (who didnt want to travel, or speak English). 40% of attendants are from China, which is a big number. But according to my discussion with the WEF organiser, the China one is way more regional and even global vs. the India and LatAm, Middle East ones. We did have global CEOs like those from Alcatel, WPP, etc., attended.

Changed my flight so that I can see Premier Wen Jiabo on stage in real! His speech was a long 40mins read-out of China's current economic policy. Honestly a bit boring, but he came to life at the end with his personal touch, when he looked up to the audience and talked about the crisis and how having confidence to see it through was key. And in his Q&A when he said he care the most about unemployment, and how the average Chinese people live.

His policy read-out hits on all the "right" topics, low-carbon, healthcare, monetary easing, domestic consumption stimulus, etc....if anything it felt a bit too comprehensive. But maybe for a large country like China, a "country strategy" had to be multi-prone like that?