BOAO /China/, March 28. /TASS/. The 21st Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on Hainan Island will launch its annual series of events on Tuesday to discuss a broad regional and international agenda. This time the BFA is themed "An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges."
The forum will last four days, featuring about 50 events, 35 of which will be open to journalists. Traditionally, it will start with a press conference where the organizers will present an analytical report on the development of the Asian region. The opening ceremony of the main part of the BFA will be held on the third day with speeches by members of China's central leadership, leaders of other countries and heads of major international organizations. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to address the BFA participants.
"This year the world is at yet another crossroads. On the one hand, challenges and difficulties are becoming more tangible, while on the other hand, the international community is striving for stability and its calls for development are becoming louder", said BFA Secretary-General Li Baodong commenting on the international situation in the context of which the forum is opening.
Russia's participation
Traditionally, representatives of the Russian Federation take an active part in the work of the BFA. One of the members of the forum's Board of Directors is Viktor Zubkov, Russia's Special Presidential Representative for Cooperation with the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors.
Igor Morgulov, Russia's ambassador to China, is expected to arrive at the forum this year. At least two sections will be of direct relevance to Russia.
The segment on the perspectives of global geopolitics is devoted to the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and tensions in the Sino-US relations. Participants will discuss the main trends that have emerged in connection with the crisis situation in Ukraine. "The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not stopped - it is a key event affecting the current international situation. However, it has once again demonstrated that security is mutual, and confrontation and antagonism are not in the interests of either side," Li Baodong said. "Peace and development are the true assets of the international community."
The other segment, titled Major Transformations in the World Energy Sector, deals with changes in the global supply and demand structure amid the West's anti-Russian sanctions. The discussion will focus on the urgent issues such as rising commodity prices, the challenges of ensuring stability and maintaining balance in the international energy market. Additionally, BFA experts invited to the discussion will present their views on the impact on all countries of the changing traditional energy supply structure.
The majority of the remaining discussion platforms will be related to issues that are highly relevant to Russia in one way or another. This includes the modernization process, establishing reliable industry chains, economic digitalization, the preservation of the world order with a focus on multilateral cooperation, the strengthening of free trade mechanisms, data security, the development of hydrogen technologies.
Other countries and participants
According to Wang Lei, Wang Lei, deputy head of the Office of the Leading Group of the Provincial Joint Commission for the Maintenance and Operation of the BAF and deputy director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Hainan Provincial Party Committee, this year's number of forum guests will be about the same as in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Back then, the BFA registered about 2,000 official participants from 60 countries and regions.
Zhang Ming, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and John Lee, head of the Hong Kong administration are expected as guests of honor.
The BFA will be attended by economic and political experts such as Zhou Xiaochuan, former head of the People's Bank of China; Bai Chunli, former president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Carlos Gutierrez, former Secretary of the US Department of Commerce; Yasuo Fukuda, former Prime Minister of Japan; Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; Chi Fulin, head of the Hainan-based China Institute for Reform and Development; Justin Yifu Lin, Dean of Institute of New Structural Economics, Dean of Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development and Professor and Honorary Dean of National School of Development at Peking University.
The BFA is expecting the arrival of many representatives of industrial and business circles of the PRC and other countries. Bank of China President Liu Jin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sinopec Corporation Ma Yongsheng, VP in South Korea's Samsung Electronics Corporation Kim Ginam, member of the All-China Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Council (the highest advisory body) of the 14th convocation, Chairman of the China Energy Engineering Corporation Song Hailiang have all been invited.
The forum will include closed events such as round tables and strategic dialogues aimed at strengthening regional and international contacts. As in previous years, the BFA will host meetings between Chinese and American entrepreneurs, Chinese and Australian companies, as well as between representatives of the PRC and EU business circles.
Meetings will also be held at the level of multinational companies, between entrepreneurs who are members of the Chinese diaspora abroad. Finally, meetings of the forum's board of directors and advisory body will be held.
About Hainan
The Hainan Administration annually hosts the Boao Forum for Asia and actively assists in its organization. Thanks to the highly developed infrastructure, which significantly improved in recent years, the province provided comfortable conditions for holding the BFA at the highest level. SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming told TASS that in the 22 years since the forum began its work, the province has "devoted enormous human, material and financial resources to enhancing its international profile."
According to the head of the organization, the BFA has become "become an effective tool for the province to deepen its reform and openness, promote international exchanges, expand the circle of friends in the region and in the world, and enhance Hainan Free Trade Port's international reputation."
As in previous years, issues related to Hainan's social and economic development will be among forum's main topics. The greatest emphasis on this topic will be made on March 29, when three events related to this Chinese province will take place.
The Hainan Dialogue devoted to the prospects of cooperation between the region and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the field of agriculture will be held during the forum. Participants of the session will discuss opportunities for forming effective production chains and trade and investment issues.
The forum will also hold a session on the global development of free trade ports, including Hainan, and coordination of international efforts to build productive trade and economic ties between them. It will be attended by Hainan leaders, representatives of governments of other regions of China, including the Heilongjiang Province bordering Russia, foreign diplomats, and the Governor of South Korean Jeju Province, Oh Young-hun.
Forum guests plan to pay special attention to the development of practical cooperation with Hainan, based on the mechanism of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. On the same day, a press conference will be held on a wide range of issues related to this most southern Chinese region. During the forum, there will be a banquet for the guests of honor organized by the BFA Secretariat and the provincial authorities.
Anti-COVID measures
According to Qiu Li, deputy head of the Hainan Hainan Health Commission's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, only those who will participate in the opening ceremony of the key part of the forum and in important bilateral meetings scheduled during the forum will be tested for the coronavirus. "The situation with COVID-19 in our province is the same as in the whole country; the spread of the virus is low," she said. "According to experts, collective immunity has generally been established, and the risks of repeated outbreaks are unlikely."
According to the official, if infected people are detected at the forum, the organizers can suspend them from participating in the events and provide them with all necessary medical services. Qiu Li added that the spread of the flu has also been reported in the PRC. "We have worked out emergency response measures for this case as well, so that the forum will be successful," she concluded.
The BFA has been regularly held since 2001 and has about 30 participating countries (Asia-Pacific states). It was not held in 2020 because of the pandemic, but in 2021 and 2022 it was organized in an in-person format, and this time it will be held on March 28-31. The Boao Forum for Asia is called the Eastern Davos; it is a major platform for the signing of major agreements, coordination of positions between representatives of business and government circles of Asian countries and all other regions of the world. Chinese authorities pay great attention to its development and view this mechanism as an effective instrument of soft diplomacy, which promotes and strengthens Beijing's international contacts.