On Tuesday, Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said "we have to construct the world of tomorrow" suggesting China was a "role model."
During his interview with CGTN, a state-run English-language news station under control of the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Schwab was asked to comment on his trip to the Group of Twenty (G20) forum last week in Bali, Indonesia.
"I think it's positive. The base has been formed, but we have to go one step further," Schwab replied. "We have to have a strategic mood; we have to construct the world of tomorrow."
The WEF founder continued referring to the forum's topics as a "systemic transformation of the world."
"We have to define how the world should look like which we want to come out of this transformation period."
Schwab said he respected China's "achievements," referring to them as "tremendous."
"I think [China is] a role model for many countries," the WEF founder continued, He conceded, however, it should be up to each country to adopt their own economic system.
"We should be very careful in imposing systems," he concluded. "But the Chinese model is certainly a very attractive model for quite a number of countries."
Shortly after the meeting, G20 leaders issued a joint declaration advocating for requiring proof of vaccination for international travel through "global digital health networks."
"We recognize the need for strengthening local and regional health product manufacturing capacities and cooperation as well as sustainable global and regional research and development networks to facilitate better access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics (VTDs) globally, especially in developing countries, and underscore the importance of public-private partnership, and technology transfer and knowledge sharing on voluntary and mutually agreed terms," read the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration.
The declaration continued:We support the WHO mRNA Vaccine Technology Transfer hub as well as all as the spokes in all regions of the world with the objective of sharing technology and technical know-how on voluntary and mutually agreed terms. We welcome joint research and joint production of vaccines, including enhanced cooperation among developing countries. We acknowledge the importance of shared technical standards and verification methods, under the framework of the IHR (2005), to facilitate seamless international travel, interoperability, and recognizing digital solutions and non-digital solutions, including proof of vaccinations. We support continued international dialogue and collaboration on the establishment of trusted global digital health networks as part of the efforts to strengthen prevention and response to future pandemics, that should capitalize and build on the success of the existing standards and digital COVID-19 certificates.
The declaration also discussed food and energy security, climate and biodiversity, health, and digital transformation.
