Economists and market leaders engage in in-depth talks at Guangzhou forum

From Dec. 5 to 6, more than a dozen prominent economists, senior leaders from major global exchanges — including the Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, New York, London and Korea exchanges — representatives from over 200 leading domestic and international tech companies and industrial groups such as Alibaba, Meituan and Midea, and delegates from more than 100 financial institutions gathered in Guangzhou for the Southern Forum of Finance and Economics 2025 annual meeting.

This year’s forum, themed “The Power of Consensus — Innovation Surge and the Revaluation of Chinese Assets,” featured opening-day keynote speeches by leading scholars and experts on the macroeconomic outlook, capital-market development, technological progress and economic rebalancing.

Liu Shijin delivers a speech at the forum. Courtesy of Southern Finance Media Corp. Photos courtesy of Southern Finance Media Corp.

Liu Shijin, chief Chinese adviser to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), said that understanding China’s strengths is key to gaining strategic initiative. He identified three major advantages: catch-up potential driven by consumption-led service growth and the upgrading of traditional manufacturing and agriculture; a new-technology revolution centered on digital and green technologies; and the benefits of an ultra-large domestic market.

From the perspective of international capital, Xing Ziqiang, Morgan Stanley’s chief economist for China, described China’s development as a dual proposition: ambitious, frontier-pushing technological self-reliance on one hand, and pragmatic provision of everyday livelihoods on the other. Comparing U.S. and Chinese approaches to AI, he argued that U.S. tech giants compete through massive investment, while China has favored lighter, more accessible model applications that ordinary people and millions of small- and medium-sized enterprises can actually use.

Overseas institutional guests share their insights on the Chinese economy.

Overseas institutional guests expressed confidence in the long-term investment value of Chinese assets and noted the dynamism of Chinese firms in globalization, digitization, upgrading and green transformation.

Ge Chenhao, head of China at the New York Stock Exchange, said that since DeepSeek drew attention many investors have begun to re-rate Chinese tech stocks. Large pools of foreign, long-term capital are returning to China-listed companies, and he expects more China-concept stocks to successfully access overseas capital markets.

Representatives from the Korea Exchange and the London Stock Exchange said closer cooperation among global exchanges and more innovative initiatives will significantly enhance the appeal of China’s capital markets to international investors.

The forum was sponsored by the Southern Finance Media Corp. and organized by 21st Century Digital Media.