China didn’t grab many headlines at Davos, but it’s the elephant in the room

BEIJING — While high-profile world leaders in Davos last week opined on U.S. claims to Greenland, China’s envoy reiterated calls for cooperation.

Businesses and analysts in China said the developments highlighted an opportunity for Beijing to expand its influence globally as tensions between the U.S. and its allies grow.

This year’s Davos is a “watershed” moment, said Hai Zhao, a director of international political studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a state-affiliated think tank.

He said countries are likely to shift toward regional trade, rather than a global economy centered on the U.S.

The world’s second-largest economy sent He Lifeng, one of its four vice premiers, to Davos, where he promoted business opportunities in China and called for the fair treatment of Chinese companies. In his speech Tuesday, He cited U.S.-China trade talks as an example of cooperation, with no specific discussion of other countries.

His remarks drew less attention than those of other world leaders at the forum. U.S. President Donald Trump made headlines by making personal jabs at foreign leaders and later softening his stance on Greenland.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined possible trade agreements, including a potentially “historic” deal with India.

Notably, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney laid out “a rupture in the world order” in a brief speech that was lauded by many commentators as potentially historic.

But analysts in China said it was Beijing’s consistent messaging that would wield greater global sway.

U.S. tensions with Europe are good for China’s relationship with the bloc, said Wei Wang, a researcher at Tianjin University of Commerce.

He said the Greenland controversy could accelerate what he described as Western acceptance that competition with China is failing, while reinforcing the idea that global power is shifting eastward.

The Davos speeches indicate growing acceptance of fundamental global shifts, which many countries outside the U.S., European, and Japanese orbit have already known, said Peter Alexander, managing director at Shanghai-based Z-Ben Advisors.

“With each passing day, it becomes evident that so long as China dominates production, all other nations have little leverage or ability to act,” he said.

China’s share of global container shipments has climbed steadily, reaching 37% for the first three quarters of last year. Beijing was the first major economy to retaliate against Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs back in April, and has increasingly cast itself as a stabilizing force for the world.

The U.S. and China reached a fragile one-year truce in October, with Trump set to visit China in April. But tariffs remain elevated, while Washington continues to restrict China’s access to advanced technologies.

The U.S.-China rivalry is the culmination of decades of “consequential miscalculations made on the part of American policy makers and business leaders,” Alexander said in an essay published Thursday documenting his perspective as an American who has lived in China for nearly 30 years.

Signaling changes afoot, several world leaders have visited China in January alone, a sharp contrast with the more isolated years around the Covid-19 pandemic.

As 2026 kicked off, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Ireland’s Prime Minister Michael Martin — the first visit by an Irish leader in 14 years — and hosted South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung later that day.

Canada’s Carney met with Xi in Beijing last week and announced a new strategic partnership involving canola seeds and electric cars. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to make a similar trip next week.

These visits help increase business confidence in engaging with China, said Jacob Cooke, co-founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies. The company helps foreign brands such as Vitamix and IS Clinical sell online in China and other parts of Asia.

Over the last year, as the U.S. raised tariffs, Cooke said he’s seen an “uptick in interest from non-American Western consumer brands looking to diversify their international sales by exporting to China.” Chinese consumers continue to seek premium products in categories such as vitamins, pets and sports, he said.

China’s Vice Premier He has said boosting domestic demand, particularly income growth, is a priority this year.

That remains a challenge for China’s state-dominated economy. Retail sales grew just 0.9% in December, the slowest pace since the pandemic. When asked last week about measures to boost disposable income, senior economic planning officials still had no specific measures to share.

Global trends are shifting regardless of China’s domestic challenges.

Larry Fink, CEO of the U.S. financial giant BlackRock and co-chair of this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, said Tuesday the gathering may not always be held in the Swiss Alps.

It might be in “places like Detroit and Dublin, and cities like Jakarta and Buenos Aires,” Fink said. “The mountain will come down to earth.”

The forum has already run a summer version in China since 2007, with this year’s event scheduled for the northeastern city of Dalian. Attendees last year noted a tilt away from Western economies and businesses.

Trump also hinted at a softer tone toward China in his high-profile Davos speech.

“I’ve always had a very good relationship with President Xi … he’s an incredible man. What he’s done is amazing, he’s highly respected by everybody,” Trump said.

He added that while the relationship was “very severely interrupted by Covid,” he stopped using the term “China virus” at Xi’s request.