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The 2023 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) opened its annual conference in Boao, a coastal town in south China’s Hainan Province on Tuesday, drawing global attention on Asian economy’s vitality.

After three long years under the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s conference fully resumes offline meetings.

Delegates from governments, business, academia and media from all over the world dived deep into the theme of the conference “An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges,” and four modules of topics, namely “Development and Inclusiveness,” “Efficiency and security,” “Regional and Global” and “The Present and the Future,” seeking ways for development amid the post-pandemic era, and deepening cooperation in the international community.

Li Baodong (right), Secretary General of Boao Forum for Asia and former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, speaks at the Press Conference and Launch of Annual Reports of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 in Boao, south China’s Hainan Province on March 28. (People’s Daily Online/Zhang Rong)

On the morning of March 28, the first press conference of the annual conference released two flagship reports, “Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2023” and “Sustainable Development: Asia and the World Annual Report 2023 —Public Private Joint Actions in Financing Asia"s Development,” which analyzed hotly-debated issues, including Asia’s resilience against external shocks, industrial chain adjustments, coping with climate change, and progress in implementing regional trade agreements, indicating that Asian economies will continue to serve as a key pillar to global economic stability and growth.

In the afternoon, the BFA held a panel discussion on “New Landscape of Industrial and Supply Chain”. “The size of [Chinese] consumers is something that we cannot ignore,” said Fabrizio Ferri, Head of the Asia-Pacific region for Fincantieri SPA.

Ferri hoped that cooperation between the Chinese and Western businesses would be further strengthened, especially in the financial industry and other service industries. He also suggested that China and Europe should strengthen cooperation on digital transition, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.

International observers attend a session themed "Belt and Road: Sharing the opportunities of development" during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 in Boao, south China’s Hainan Province on March 28. (People’s Daily Online/Zhang Rong)

A session themed on “The Belt and Road: Sharing the Opportunities” was then convened, during which guests pointed out that as an important global public good, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) enriched the mechanism and content of international cooperation for development since it was launched a decade ago.

When asked how to attract young people into the BRI, Renat Bekturov, the Governor of Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), told People’s Daily Online that he would encourage the young generation to take the initiative and put forth their strength on technology innovation, and green issues.

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