Major world issues under limelight as Davos forum opens

Wang Weiguang, President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) speaks during a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 22, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

DAVOS, Switzerland - Government officials, experts and business elites from over 100 countries on Wednesday started heated discussions on the world's underlining issues at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in the Swiss snow-clad town of Davos.

THREE DIMENSIONS

The theme of this year's four-day meeting -- "The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business" -- exactly sets out the three dimensions of the world's current circumstances.

In the economic dimension, six years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world economy now comes to a turning point.

The US economy is speeding up recovery, and Europe is struggling out of recession. Emerging economies, which experienced a post-crisis slowdown in the past two years, are expected to improve amid more uncertainties.

In the political dimension, policy-makers are pondering how to build a mechanism for better governance and global cooperation, as national hostility, racial tension, regional conflicts as well as unilateralism and minilateralism promoted by some major countries continue to destabilize the world.

In the social dimension, social inequality calls for global reform and reshaping as the world sees a painful contrast between extravagance in developed countries and famine in poor ones, as well as a yawning development gap between the North and the South.

Alongside, new social problems brought about by urbanization, migration, aging, and lack of educational resources have emerged, while gender discrimination, income disparity and environmental deterioration are still taking their tolls.