The bullet train of globalization is now in need of proper refit to prevent possible breakdown to the detriment of global economic development, as it seems to have met with some major bumps and hitches since last year.
This would be a main message that Chinese President Xi Jinping will deliver on his 2017 maiden visit to Switzerland. During the visit, Xi will attend the World Economic Forum to elaborate his thinking on the flawed global governance system, and present a much-needed prescription to forge a more rational and thus desirable future for all.
The mind-boggling symptoms of current globalization triggered quite a few "black swan" events and left many confused and alarmed in 2016. In June, dismayed British constituents voted for Brexit to divorce the European Union. Later, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned for failure to get the electorate's backing for sweeping reforms.
Across the Atlantic, real estate mogul Donald Trump elbowed his way to the Oval Office partly by touting isolationist and exclusive policies against immigrants, and threatening to slap punitive tariffs on the countries' major trading partners once he assumes presidency.
Deep inside the populist revolts last year, the free exchanges of talents and capitals across boundaries seem to have failed to benefit the masses in the West -- and the developing world -- as many expected at the turn of this century. On the contrary, due to the inequitable rules of globalization, only a minority group of elites in the West get nourished during this process.
More appalling is that some developed powers in the West have kept accusing the emerging economies of "stealing" jobs and resources from them. Some have gone so far as to believe the developing nations, the major prey of Western centuries' colonization, aggression and exploitation, should be responsible for their problematic domestic and international arrangements.
Their arguments are doomed to fail in a world where nations' interests are tightly interrelated. Not to mention that these people, also among the biggest beneficiaries of globalization, are only endeavoring for a cozier seat on the irresistible journey of this "bullet train."
It is therefore high time for political and business leaders to make changes together in 2017, and get those left behind onboard with due respect and through dialogue they all deserve; Otherwise they will end up as the ones left behind by the merciless majority.
Judged by a larger picture, isolation and xenophobia will only toss the world into the old page of isolation and obscuration the human beings have fought for centuries to break.
Besides, it is both the West's moral obligation and feasible choice to turn the tide and work with the developing world -- to make painstaking reforms on domestic and global governance systems for a fairer world -- if they want to keep their interests and competitiveness intact.
The more than 7 billion passengers on the bullet train of globalization deserve better arrangements for their future. Time and tide wait for no one to make a move in the right direction.
