The New Champion Dialogues 2022: Navigating Uncertainty

Entrepreneurial leaders from business, government and civil society will gather virtually for The New Champion Dialogues. Held on 18-19 July 2022, the meeting will convene targeted discussions under the theme Navigating Uncertainty and include over 1,100 participants from around the word.

The virtual exchange is taking place as the world continues to face tremendous international and domestic uncertainty and disruption. Meanwhile, extraordinary levels of entrepreneurship and resilience across sectors has also been witnessed. The summit’s virtual meetings dive into these issues, focusing on a host of relevant topics including economic stability, technological innovation and climate change, among others.

Since 2007, the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, held annually in China, has been a “second pillar” among the World Economic Forum’s global meetings.

The summit differs from Forum’s flagship Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland as it is particularly aimed at engaging entrepreneurs and innovators from emerging markets.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last in-person Annual Meeting of the New Champions was held in Dalian, China, in July 2019.

This year’s fully virtual New Champion Dialogues builds on the legacy of the meeting, with an emphasis on the pivotal role of entrepreneurial approaches in emerging and developed economies to advance economic, environmental and technological progress.

The New Champion Dialogues also includes an emphasis on where economic and technological transformation has been the most rapid: China. The summit provides a forum for global leaders to engage with their Chinese peers to exchange insights on the tangible innovations and solutions that enable leading organizations to navigate uncertainty.

Participants will gather as people worldwide face deepening crises.

Economic and geopolitical systems, already weakened by the pandemic, have been further shaken by armed conflict. High commodity prices, inflation and the disruption of international trade and supply chains have severely impacted countries, companies and communities. In the face of this, an extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit remains.

To better understand today’s challenges and advance progress, key topics on the agenda this year include:

The summit will include several stakeholder dialogues that raise attention on certain issues. For example, the Championing the Entrepreneurial Agenda dialogue will focus on the factors for success of small and medium enterprises, which make up nearly 90% of all firms globally, despite the challenging economic context.

Meanwhile, the Unlocking the Power of Nature Financing dialogue will discuss recently unveiled green financing programmes and examine China's most recent Five-Year Plan, which allocates RMB 880 billion to fund ecological protection and restoration. Other dialogues include Averting a Worldwide Food Crisis, Energizing the Renewable Transition and Innovation for Impact: Frontiers of the Metaverse. These are all cross-cutting issues where perspectives and solutions from companies of all sizes should be heard.

There will also be briefings from entrepreneurs and experts on three specific topics: Shaping the Future of Work, Adapting to Evolving ESG Requirements and Global Consumption Patterns.

Moreover, the summit will include several invite-only sessions for leading stakeholders who are involved in year-round impact initiatives. See the entire programme here.

Over 1,100 participants from 90 countries will participate in this year’s New Champion Dialogues. Participants include top leaders from business, government and civil society, all from various sectors and with an array of expertise.

This year’s summit will also provide indispensable engagement with Chinese business and thought leaders who may not have been able to attend the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos this May due to the pandemic.