SHANGHAI—China is sending its largest-ever delegation to the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, this week, continuing an expansion of its presence in recent years that underlines the country's growing influence on the global economy.
Leading the 66-person-strong group is China's commerce minister and its top banking regulator, along with the chairman of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world's biggest lender by market capitalization, and the head of China Ocean Shipping Group Co., which runs the world's largest bulk cargo fleet.
In addition to a few regulars among state-enterprise executives and government think-tank economists, a growing number of young and rising stars from China's private sector, such as the head of an MP3 maker and the founder of a U.S.-listed solar energy firm will also attend.
The size and stature of the Chinese delegation follows President Hu Jintao's recent state visit to the U.S. and Vice Premier Li Keqiang's extensive European tour, both of which generated big export deals for the host nations' manufacturers and service providers.
As skepticism has grown on the utility of Davos in recent years—especially in the aftermath of the financial crisis—Beijing is showing strong affection for the forum, taking advantage of its relaxed atmosphere to convey its policy messages and to promote its corporate sector.
Among highlights of China's recent participation at Davos was Premier Wen Jiabao's broader 2009 European "trip of confidence," when he pledged that China would shore up its own economy and help the rest of the world. He left Europe at that time with huge Chinese orders for European goods ranging from new aircraft to telecommunications equipment.
Last year, Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who is widely expected to take over from Mr. Wen in two years, used Davos to make his most high-profile international debut.
The top Chinese leadership won't be in Davos this year, but the size of the nation's delegation has risen to 66 people from 54 last year, the forum's organizers said.
The Chinese group is still dwarfed by the delegations of other countries, such as that of the U.S. with about 700 people this year, the U.K. with nearly 300 people and India with more than 100. But it is a big contrast from 2001, when Beijing sent three people.
Commerce Minister Chen Deming will be China's highest-ranking official at the forum this year, along with Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and Peng Sen, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's economic planning agency.
Mr. Chen is scheduled to co-chair a plenary session with Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organization, focused on China's impact on global trade and growth.
Apart from familiar statements on resurrecting the dormant Doha Round of trade talks and opposing trade protectionism, Mr. Chen is expected to call for the European Union to lift restrictions on high-tech exports and arms and grant China market economy status, which would give Beijing better protection against trade penalties.
As a guardian of China's labor-intensive export industry, Mr. Chen is also likely to defend China's contested exchange-rate policy, arguing it isn't a cause for global trade imbalances. He is also expected to address the protection of intellectual-property rights.
Mr. Liu, who studied in the U.K. and is fluent in English, is scheduled to speak on a panel with mostly Western bankers about international financial regulatory reforms. Mr. Liu is widely regarded as favoring a cautious approach on issues such as managing systemic risks, Chinese overseas bank forays and the use of financial derivatives.
Accompanying these government officials will be senior executives of China's various corporate giants, including Jiang Jianqing, chairman of ICBC and Gao Xiqing, president of China Investment Corp., the country's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund and Wei Jiafu, president of Cosco, the container company. A group of less well-known leaders of large state-owned enterprises, such as Tianjin Port (Group) Co. and Bohai Steel Group Co. will also attend.
Apart from the state sector, a marked trend in recent years at Davos has been the growing presence of a new breed of Chinese entrepreneurs. This year features Shi Zhengrong, founder and chairman of Suntech Power Holdings Co., a New York-listed firm that is on the threshold of becoming the world's largest solar-panel maker. Gao Jifan, chairman and chief executive of Trina Solar Ltd., another U.S.-listed industry solar company, will also attend.
Well-known Chinese technology firms such as Huawei Technologies Co. and Lenovo Groupare sending senior executives to the forum. But budding young stars such as Feng Jun, chief executive of Aigo Digital Technology Co., a Beijing-based digital consumer products maker, will also be promoting their own businesses there.
Mr. Feng, who was once nicknamed "Feng Wu Kuai", or "Five Yuan Feng," began his career in the early 1990s by selling computer spare parts for a five-yuan per piece profit margin. Now his company makes products ranging from computer keyboards to digital cameras and MP3s.
