China's advance in technological innovation creates opportunities for overseas investors: researchers

China's advances in new quality productive forces and technological innovation fuel high-quality growth at home and bring stability and momentum to the global economy, according to researchers attending the 2026 Global Leadership Forum Sunday in Beijing.

China's expanding global openness has created numerous opportunities for overseas investors, said Xu Tianqi, deputy director of the Country Studies Department at Renmin University of China's Chongyang Institute for National Studies.

"You don't need to worry about the supply chain in China. You can buy everything, right? The manufacturing, the services. As long as you ask your supplier to provide you, they will immediately send you the messages and send you the products that you want. So I think it's safe in these scenarios. Also that's very good for Chinese business environment, but it's not saying China is safe for investment to earn money. You need to compete in China to earn your money," Xu said.

He said China is likely to maintain the leadership in high-end manufacturing and secure its important position in the global supply chain.

"Firstly, we want to maintain our leadership in the high-technology manufacturing, high-end manufacturing. If you look at those 'dark light factories' in China, that's automatic, also those robotic factories in China, you can see this kind of scenario. That's the first part. We don't want all manufacturing, like labor manufacturing, we don't need all of them, but we need to maintain our leadership in the high-end manufacturing. That's very important. The second one is that we want to be the innovation center. That's also mentioned in the newest five-year-plan. So together it creates the new position for China in the global supply chain," Xu said.

Technological advancement empowers Chinese firms to evolve from supply chain participants to ecosystem creators, competing via innovation and exporting standards, said Li Jiaying, associate researcher of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China.

"The breakthrough of technology will enable Chinese enterprises to transform from the participants in the global supply chains to the ecosystem builders. It involves a shift from the cost competition to technological innovation competition, and the increase in the product added value, changing the position on the smile curve and transition into the high-end segments like the research and development, design and high-end services. Meanwhile, it will also allow our Chinese enterprises to export rules, to formulate standards and also provide integrated solutions," said Li.

China's advance in technological innovation creates opportunities for overseas investors: researchers

Thailand's rural tradition of elephant stewardship is rapidly vanishing as livelihoods change and younger people pursue opportunities elsewhere, threatening centuries of irreplaceable elephant-care knowledge.

For generations, mahouts in the region have passed on their tradition of closely bonding with the elephants they care for. Taweesuk Lapsan is one of a dwindling number of mahouts who diligently carry on the practice.

Long before the sun rises over the fields, he was already at work, gathering bundles of food for an animal that had been part of his family for generations.

"We've had elephants since our grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations. We've been around elephants our whole lives, so we have a strong connection and experience in raising them. That's how we've been able to live with them like this," the mahout said.

Caring for his elephant was not merely a job, but an inherited way of life. Years of daily coexistence forged an intimate bond defined by an intuitive understanding of subtle movements, sounds, and hesitations that take a lifetime to master.

"We live together like this. It's like a family. We're like family; we always go through things together. Until we breathe our last, it just depends on who lives longer," said Taweesuk.

Mahouts and elephants have been woven into parts of Thailand's cultural landscape, from rural livelihoods and traditional practices. However, the tradition has been upended by the collapse of the commercial logging industry and the rapid expansion of tourism.

As fewer young people follow in their families' footsteps, conservationists warned that an intricate system of animal care, refined over centuries, faces gradual extinction.

"When a mahout disappears, they are replaced by people who simply come in to take care of the elephants, essentially, elephant keepers. There are differences in terms of the bond between the keeper and the elephant, the cultural aspects, and the passing down of knowledge and traditions from one generation to the next. So we are concerned about the quality," said Parntep Ratanakorn, Secretary General of the Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand.

Taweesuk said that his daughters may choose paths far removed from the stables, a decision he fully respects. As the practice fades, experts warn the loss extends far beyond a vanishing cultural heritage, threatening the daily welfare safety nets upon which captive elephants rely.

Thailand's centuries-old elephant care tradition face extinction as livelihoods change