In almost every panel discussion at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, there comes a moment when somebody mentions China.
A hush typically ensues, as panelists draw their breath, gather their thoughts and struggle to put the bewildering vastness of the topic into a few words.
"China is going to be the change agent for the next 20 years," said Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, when asked about the country's future on a panel led by the television interview host Charlie Rose.
China's staggering potential, coupled with the steep language barrier and cultural discomfort of many Chinese who come to this conference, has made it Davos's annual enigma.
After three days of outsiders' dissecting its motives and prospects, China finally took the stage on Saturday, with a speech by its executive vice prime minister, Huang Ju (
"China's development will by no means pose a threat to other countries," Huang declared cheerfully, as if to soothe people here who spent the week fretting about China's lengthening shadow.
Huang, however, said little on the two issues of overriding importance to the investors and business people here: whether China would allow its currency to rise against the US dollar, and whether the Chinese would crack down on the rampant theft of intellectual property.
"We have to maintain the exchange rate at a reasonable level," said Huang, who directs China's finance policy and was billed by the organizers as Beijing's chief operating officer.
Some here interpreted that comment as a signal that China would not allow its currency, the yuan, to rise against the US dollar this year, as some Europeans and Americans have demanded. But Michael S. Dell, the chairman of Dell Inc, who had breakfast with Huang, said he did not draw any conclusions.
Huang also did little to ease investors' concerns about China's regard for intellectual property rights, saying only that through new laws and tougher enforcement, China was trying to achieve in a dozen years what it had taken the Western world a century to do.
At a dinner with the theme of investing in China, several foreign executives said they discerned little progress on the issue. The only way to avoid having their proprietary technology pilfered by Chinese competitors, they said, was to keep most research and development activities at home, and to use China for simple manufacturing.
For the Chinese who trek to this Alpine ski resort, the problem is less one of legal tradition than cultural disconnect. Except for a handful of fluent English speakers with long experience with foreigners, most keep to themselves - shying away from the high-octane networking that is the fuel of Davos.
"Davos's history is as a European and American conference," said Chen Feng (
Chen, an irrepressible entrepreneur who worked the hallways like a Davos regular, is one of only four chief executives of major Chinese companies at this year's conference. He said more of his peers had come to previous meetings, but had found the experience uncomfortable.
Zhao Jianfei, an editor at The Observer, a Shanghai-based magazine, said, "In China, the basic idea is to watch Davos, not take part in it."
People have other theories for why the Chinese do not turn out in droves. "China is not exactly soliciting investment," said Stephan F. Newhouse, the president of Morgan Stanley. "They're turning it away."
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