BEIJING, October 31, 2018 -- World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim will visit China on November 1-7, 2018.
In Beijing, Dr. Kim will address the International Forum on China’s Reform and Opening Up and Poverty Reduction, cohosted by the Chinese government and the World Bank Group. The forum will bring leaders from the government, financial institutions, business sector, diplomatic community, think tanks and academics to reflect on the four decades of reforms that have lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty.
Dr. Kim will participate in the High-Level International Symposium on Doing Business Reform in Beijing. The event, with the Beijing Municipal Government as one of the organizers, will present the reforms that China carried out in the past year to improve the business environment, share examples of international good practices, and discuss ideas for further reforms.
Dr. Kim will then travel to Guizhou to discuss the province’s ambition to accelerate development through digital technology. He will visit an online marketplace that connects long-haul drivers with shippers throughout China - a project supported by IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. In addition, Dr. Kim will visit a Taobao village to see how e-commerce can make a difference in people’s lives in rural China. He will also have an opportunity to observe big data development in Guizhou. He will visit aged care service facilities and learn how the World Bank works with the government to develop an equitable, efficient and sustainable aged care system in response to the aging challenge. He will also meet the Guizhou provincial leadership.
Dr. Kim will visit Shanghai to address the first China International Import Expo (CIIC) that President Xi Jingping will open. The Expo is a significant move of the Chinese government to push forward a new round of high-level opening-up, and an important measure to actively open the Chinese market to the world.
Upon return to Beijing, Dr. Kim will attend Premier Li Keqiang’s roundtable with the heads of international organizations to discuss how to promote an open global economy and economic reforms in China. During this visit, Dr. Kim also plans to meet with senior leaders and government officials. In addition, Dr. Kim will speak at the Reinvented Toilet Expo together with Bill Gates.
Dr. Kim will be accompanied by Yang Shaolin, Managing Director and World Bank Group Chief Administrative Officer; Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional Vice President; Nena Stoiljkovic, Vice President for Asia and Pacific of IFC; Bert Hofman, World Bank Country Director for China, Mongolia and Korea; Vivek Pathak, Director for the East Asia and Pacific Department of IFC and Randall Riopelle, Country Manager for China, Korea and Mongolia of IFC.
