The three-day WEF annual meeting, also known as WEF Summer Davos, is being held (July 1-3) with the theme of 'Leadership 4.0 - Succeeding in a New Era of Globalization'.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang inaugurated the meeting on Tuesday morning.
WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab and Liaoning Province governor Tang Yijun spoke on the occasion.
Over 1,800 leaders, including heads of state and government, business, civil society, academia and the arts, from across the world gathered at the port city of Dalian in Chinese Liaoning province which is a trading and financial centre in Northeastern Asia and known as the Hong Kong of Northern China.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who arrived here in the early hours of Tuesday on a bilateral official visit to China, attended the inaugural ceremony of the WEF meeting.
She is scheduled to attend a panel discussion on ‘Cooperation in the Pacific Rim' in the afternoon as part of the WEF Summer Davos.
Besides, Sheikh Hasina will have talks with WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab at the latter’s office in the Dalian International Conference Centre.
The aim of the meeting is to find new strategic models to adapt to the world’s environmental challenges, regional competition, economic disparities and technological disruption.
The WEF, based in Geneva of Switzerland, was founded in 1971 as a non-profit organisation and its mission is to improve the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.