Geographies in Depth

Highlights of day two at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2016

Anna Bruce-Lockhart
Editorial Lead, World Economic Forum

What’s happening to China’s economy? Will we still be driving cars in 10 years’ time? Will anyone stop talking about Brexit? These questions, and so many more, were explored and answered today at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, China.

Premier Li Keqiang spoke on Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

You can watch a longer version here:

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Despite international consternation over China's growth slowdown, the premier was untroubled.

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You can watch a longer excerpt from Premier Li's speech on the economy here.

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But despite the bright economic outlook, growth would not come at the cost of the environment, said Premier Li: “We will phase out outdated production capacities, cut capacity in steel and coal industries, adopt strict standards in environmental protection, quality and safety,” he said.

In a session on Asia's energy outlook, the speakers acknowledged one major fact: that China leads the world on renewable energy.

Technology was a recurring theme today, with the launch of our new class of Tech Pioneers. Find out what's so great about them in this article.

On the theme of disruption, Uber's Travis Kalanick sat down for a one-on-one interview on disruptive innovation. Asked if we'd still be driving cars in a decade's time, he had this to say:

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Back to Brexit

Britain's vote to leave the EU and what it means for the rest of the world was a hot topic again today. Here are what two pundits had to say:

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Such was the sustained interest in Brexit that a second press briefing was held.

New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, Rachel Morarjee of Breaking Views and Samuel Smiles of UBS took to the floor to answer questions on what might happen now.

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"After asking for a divorce I would say that I wanted to patch up," Nouriel Roubini said.

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And after that, the day was over. But tomorrow is full of promise: a full morning of debates covering China's pollution issues, the New Silk Road project and, inevitably, more Brexit fallout.

For more coverage of the meeting so far, take a look at our liveblog.

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