Overview
- The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions ran June 23–25 in Dalian and brought more than 1,700 government, business and academic leaders to focus on AI, biotech, energy and the Global South.
- Chinese Premier Li Qiang warned that the world risks losing control of frontier technologies if regulation does not keep pace with rapid advances in AI and related fields.
- WEF officials and speakers said public-private partnerships and state-backed financing are essential to move laboratory breakthroughs into commercial markets and to fund infrastructure such as power grids required by AI growth.
- Delegates flagged active geopolitical headwinds — including the Middle East conflict and rising US‑China tensions — that have disrupted shipping, energy supplies and investment and helped prompt the World Bank’s cut to 2026 growth forecasts.
- Participants singled out the Global South as a major source of future innovation but said scaling there will require more capital, better regulatory frameworks and sustained international scientific cooperation to avoid fragmentation and job displacement.