第一，正视当前世界经济面临的增长困境。疫情以来的这几年，世界经济复苏艰难。据国际货币基金组织等机构预测，今后几年世界经济可能维持中低速增长，总体低于疫情前水平。世界经济增长动能不足，既有疫情冲击、通胀高企、债务加剧等阶段性因素影响，也与一些深层次矛盾和问题密切相关。从长周期看，自18世纪60年代以来，以蒸汽机、电力、信息技术为代表的三次工业革命，极大改变了人类生产生活方式，每次工业革命后世界经济都迎来一轮爆发增长期。同时，随着既有技术模式释放动能的减弱，世界经济增长也会逐渐步入一个瓶颈期。这种内在变化带来的影响是多方面的，在宏观上，表现为经济增速放缓，世界经济的蛋糕不再那么容易做大；在中观上，体现为投资收益下降，规模经济效应减弱，越来越多的商业领域由“蓝海”变成了“红海”；在微观上，则是不同主体间竞争加剧、“内卷”增多。基于存量的你争我夺，也一定程度导致了逆全球化抬头、地缘冲突加剧等问题。

First, we need to confront the growth predicament of the world economy. The road to recovery has been treacherous since the onset of COVID-19. According to forecasts of the International Monetary Fund and other institutions, global growth may remain moderate or even slow in the coming years, and generally below the pre-pandemic level. Anemic global growth is not only caused by temporary factors such as impact of the pandemic, high inflation and rising debt. It is also ascribed to some deep-seated problems and intrinsic issues. From a cyclical perspective, the three industrial revolutions since the 1760s, which were respectively marked by the utilization of steam engines, electricity and information technologies, all transformed the way of production and life in human society. Each was followed by a surge in global growth. However, when the impetus unleashed by existing technological models diminished, global growth would slide into a period of stagnation. The impact of such fundamental transformation is manifold. At the macro level, we would see a slowdown of economic growth, and find it more difficult to make the pie of global economy bigger. At the meso level, we would see declining return on investment and diminishing economies of scale, with more business sectors turning from blue to red oceans. At the micro level, we would see intensifying competition among market players and spiraling “involution.” The neck-to-neck contest for available resources is, to some extent, triggering problems including backlash against globalization and escalation of geopolitical conflicts.