Li Baodong (center), Secretary General of Boao Forum for Asia, delivers a speech at a press conference in Beijing on January 16 (ZHANG SHASHA) 

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) will hold its annual conference from March 26 to 29 in Boao, a coastal town in south China’s Hainan Province, BFA Secretary General Li Baodong announced at a press conference in Beijing on January 16.  

This year’s conference will focus on how the international community can team up to overcome challenges and share responsibilities, Li said at the press conference. 

In today’s world, we are confronted with a range of challenges, but the prevailing call remains focused on pursuing peace, seeking development, and fostering cooperation within the international community, he said.  

“The Asia-Pacific region continues to be a crucial driver of global growth amid uncertainty,” Li said. 

According to the International Monetary Fund in October 2023, the Asia-Pacific region was expected to grow by 4.6 percent in 2023 and by 4.2 percent in 2024, accounting for two thirds of global economic growth. 

“This is not only a result of economic resilience and structural adjustments within Asia-Pacific nations, but is also due to the unwavering commitment of the majority of nations in the region to peace, development, and firm support for international cooperation,” he said.  

“Through the annual conference, we aspire to inject confidence and momentum into the world economy and contribute Asia’s wisdom and strength to global development,” he added. 

“Confidence is undoubtedly the most precious asset in an uncertain world,” Jiang Chengbo, Director of Greater China Corporate Communications of SABIC, a Saudi chemical manufacturing company, said at the press conference. 

SABIC firmly believes that only with unwavering confidence can businesses and nations along the global value chain unite, collaborate and jointly promote high-quality, sustainable economic growth, she said. 

“Culture serves as the spiritual force that continuously drives high-quality development in enterprises,” Liu Yang, Vice General Manager of Wuliangye Yibin Co. Ltd., one of China’s leading liquor brands, told the press conference.  

Liu said Wuliangye is committed to being the guardian, inheritor and promoter of outstanding traditional Chinese culture and will use fine wine as a bond to promote cultural integration and advance close regional cooperation. 

BFA’s annual conference this year will invite leaders from different countries, government officials, heads of international organizations, business representatives, experts, scholars and media professionals. It will cover four major topics—global economy, technological innovation, social development, and international cooperation. 

Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization dedicated to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals. 

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon 

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