Agenda Dialogues

Record-breaking heat across Europe is placing growing pressure on critical infrastructure. At the same time, oil prices climbed above $100 per barrel earlier this year as geopolitical tensions once again exposed vulnerabilities in global energy markets.
These are not isolated crises, but different sides of the same coin. And prompts the question, how can we build energy systems that remain reliable in an increasingly volatile world?
A new generation of technologies is beginning to change that equation. This session explores how new technologies like direct lithium extraction and everything-to-grid energy are changing how energy is produced, managed and consumed.
This is the full audio from a studio discussion recorded on 9 July, 2026.
Speakers: 
Volker Sick, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan
Anna Tunkel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Impact LLC
Akshay Joshi, Head of the Centre for Cybersecurity, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum
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More than $150 trillion moves across borders each year through the global financial system, the vast majority of it still denominated in dollars. As geopolitical tensions fragment trade relationships and middle powers look to diversify their financial exposure, alternative currencies are gaining quiet traction, such as the recent renewal of a 200-billion-yuan swap line between the Bank of Canada and the People's Bank of China.

How might a growing willingness among these economies to transact in alternative currencies reshape the structure, stability and sovereignty of the international financial system?
Speakers:
Diana Choyleva, Founder and Chief Economist, Enodo Economics, Senior Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute
Robin Harding, Asia Editor, The Financial Times
Zongyuan Zoe Liu, Senior Fellow, China Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Ashor Nick Sarupen, Deputy Minister of Finance, Ministry of Finance of South Africa
Zhu Ning, Deputy Dean and Professor of Finance, Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance
This is the full audio from a session at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 in Dalian, China on 23-25 June, 2026. Watch it here:  https://www.weforum.org/meetings/annual-meeting-of-the-new-champions-2026/sessions/renminbi-and-the-world/
Catch up on all the action from World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 at wef.ch/amnc26 and across social media using the hashtag #AMNC26.
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Tariffs, export controls and mechanisms such as investment screening have become central instruments of economic management. This is pushing strategic players to leverage their production of critical resources and the concentration of critical supply chain inputs.

In an increasingly fractured economy, what is the right balance between protecting national interests while continuing to seek economic collaboration?

This is the full audio from a session at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 in Dalian, China on 23-25 June, 2026. Watch it here: https://www.weforum.org/meetings/annual-meeting-of-the-new-champions-2026/sessions/resisting-autarky/

Speakers:
Yuen Yuen Ang, Alfred Chandler Chair Professor of Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University
Tian Wei, Host, World Insight with Tian Wei, China Global Television Network (CGTN)
Elizabeth Thurbon, Professor of International Political Economy; Director, Green Energy Statecraft Project, University of New South Wales
Yasushi Sasaki, Managing Director and Senior Partner; Asia Pacific Chair, Boston Consulting Group
Matthew Klein, Founder, The Overshoot
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As AI inference costs have dropped by over 90%, enterprises are embedding data and intelligence at the core of their operating and business models, enabling always-on, global execution beyond human limits.
How are these AI-first enterprises reorganizing around AI in practice, and under what conditions does this actually translate into long-term value for society?
This is the full audio from a session at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 in Dalian, China on 23-25 June, 2026. Watch it here:
https://www.weforum.org/meetings/annual-meeting-of-the-new-champions-2026/sessions/whats-the-intelligence-limit-for-ai-first-enterprises/
Speakers:
Yuxiang Zhou, Chief Executive Officer, Black Lake Technologies, Michael Römer, Senior Partner and Global Co-Lead, Activate: Digital and Analytics, Kearney
Joey Wat, Chief Executive Officer, Yum China Holdings, Inc.
Sudip Roy, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Adaption
Yang Yanqing, Director of Center for Education, Innovation and Sustainable Development, ShanghaiTech University
Mehdi Ghissassi, Chief Product and Technology Officer, AI 71
Catch up on all the action from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 at wef.ch/amnc26 and across social media using the hashtag #AMNC26.
Check out all our podcasts on wef.ch/podcasts: 
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Global foreign direct investment rebounded by 14% to $1.6 trillion in 2025, yet the gains remained heavily concentrated in advanced economies, widening the gap with the emerging markets expected to drive the majority of growth in the coming decades. Young populations, rapid digital adoption and expanding consumer bases give emerging economies significant structural advantages, but capital, technology and industrial capacity continue to flow elsewhere.

As competitiveness gaps widen, what is separating the front-runners from the laggards, and where will the next engines of growth emerge?
This is the full audio from a session at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 in Dalian, China on 23-25 June, 2026. Watch it here:  https://www.weforum.org/meetings/annual-meeting-of-the-new-champions-2026/sessions/growth-map-rewritten/
Speakers: 
A. Burak Dağlıoğlu, President, Investment Office of the Presidency of Türkiye
 
Elaine Yu, China Correspondent, CNBC Asia
 
Leslie Vinjamuri, President and Chief Executive Officer, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
 
Zou Ling, Founder of Honghub and Co-Head of Primavera Venture Partners, Primavera Capital Group
 
Aparna Bharadwaj, Global Leader, Global Advantage Practice; Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group
 
Catch up on all the action from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2026 at wef.ch/amnc26 and across social media using the hashtag #AMNC26.

Check out all our podcasts on wef.ch/podcasts: 
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Radio Davos - subscribe: https://pod.link/1504682164
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