Guests attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting 2025 have praised China's role in promoting international trade and investment cooperation and its achievements in technological innovation, and green development, expressing their hopes to deepen friendly cooperation with China in these areas and many more.
In an interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Davos, Switzerland, Said bin Mohammed bin Ahmed al-Saqri, the Omani Minister of Economy, commended China's ongoing contributions to global economic and trade cooperation, including through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which Oman was an early signatory.
"We hope Oman and China will push for global cooperation when it comes to trade and investment and bilateral trade. Oman was one of the very first countries that signed the [Belt and Road Initiative], between Oman and China. And we think this is a great initiative. It will bring about prosperity, not only to China and Oman, of course, but to the world. So, we stand behind this initiative. We think it is very important and it is very positive and useful for the rest of the world," he said.
Chakri Gottemukkala, co-founder and CEO of o9 Solutions, a leading enterprise AI software platform provider, also told CCTV that China has been a champion in innovation.
"We are already working with Chinese companies and we have global companies that have big manufacturing operations and markets in China, so we can hope to continue that partnership. I think there are a lot of innovation going on, of course, in China. And I think they recognized us as a partner who can not only bring our best practices to the equation, but also co-innovate in some areas, and that partnership is really, really fruitful for both sides," he said.
Marco Lambertini, special envoy of World Wildlife Fund International, said that China, as a leader in green tech, is poised to play a pivotal role in the global efforts to respond to climate change.
"In climate terms, it's an incredible result. Without mentioning that you have been in the early 2000s [when] the country that crashed the price of solar energy thanks to the investment that you made domestically and the export of technology abroad. China continues to steam ahead, and I think you have the chance, the opportunity, but also the responsibility, to continue to be a leader," said Lambertini, who sits on the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.
Taking place from Monday to Friday in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, the WEF Annual Meeting 2025 gathered 3,000 attendees from over 130 countries to address key global and regional challenges, such as responding to geopolitical shocks, stimulating growth to improve living standards, and stewarding a just and inclusive energy transition.
Davos 2025 attendees hope for deeper cooperation with China on trade, innovation, green tech
China's elderly care robot industry is projected to surpass 10 billion yuan (about 1.47 billion U.S. dollars) in 2026, with the market maturing and transitioning from technological verification phase to large-scale application, according to a report released on Tuesday by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
According to the MIIT, the rapid expansion of the market is being driven primarily by an aging population and the mismatch between the supply and demand for elderly care services.
"As the aging process of the population continues to accelerate, the shortage of nursing staff becomes a long-term challenge and the demand for intelligent technologies and products among the elderly becomes increasingly urgent. Intelligent elderly care service robots have emerged as an innovative solution to traditional aging-related issues, and their future market potential is expected to be very broad," said Liu Wenqiang, vice president of the China Center for Information Industry Development.
After years of development, China's elderly care robot industry has built a full-fledged industrial chain ecosystem -- covering everything from research and development of core components and complete machine manufacturing to system integration and operational services.
Continuous breakthroughs have been made in key human-robot interaction technologies including multimodal perception, AI algorithms, and high-precision motion control. Domestically produced products have now reached internationally advanced levels in core functions such as fall detection, remote monitoring, and rehabilitation training.
The capabilities of these robots have expanded far beyond early basic tasks such as cleaning or meal delivery. Today, they offer a broad range of services -- including daily living assistance, health monitoring, emotional companionship, rehabilitation support, and helping to move or transfer seniors. That makes them suitable for the diverse needs of elderly individuals with different health conditions.
"Through recent years of follow-up research, continuous efforts are needed in areas such as technology, application scenarios, standards, and safety to rapidly improve the quality of robots. It is important to guide the integration and application of new technologies, like large AI models, new materials, and secure human-robot interaction, into elderly care service robots, while optimizing and upgrading them based on the specific pain points and needs of the elderly population," said Liu.
Forecasts indicate that professional nursing institutions will remain the largest market for elderly care robots, accounting for about 50 percent of demand. Community-based elderly care follows with roughly 30 percent.
While home-based care currently accounts for the smallest share, approximately 20 percent, it is seeing the most significant growth.
The elderly care robot sector is growing at an average annual rate of about 32 percent, while the market for companion robots is seeing even faster growth, at around 42 percent per year.
By 2025, China's population aged 60 and above had reached 323.38 million, with more than 130 million seniors living alone or as so-called "empty-nesters" whose children have moved out of the family home.
China's elderly care robot market growing rapidly: report
