economy - China as the world's "change agent"

I did not have enough time to really blog about the World Economic Forum in Davos, but this article of the New York Times focuses nicely on the important China-angle of this annual conference. The quote of the conference comes from Microsoft's Bill Gates, who called China "the change agent for the next twenty years".
While China dominated the conference, I did not discover any real new development. Of course there was no news about any revaluation of the renminbi and when you live in China, you already know the central government is doing what it can to protect intellectual property. Unfortunately, that is relative little.
Interesting is the observation in the NYT-article on how few Chinese business people attend the meeting. "Davos's history is as a European and American conference," said Chen Feng, the chairman of Hainan Airlines Company. "People come here to relax and ski. China's culture is not about skiing." "Davos's history is as a European and American conference," said Chen Feng, the chairman of Hainan Airlines Company. "People come here to relax and ski. China's culture is not about skiing."
And the article continues: "Mr. 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."
More here at the WEF-weblog, and some more candid observations at the weblog of Rebecca MacKinnon.