Facing the sea, building a promising future together

Photo taken on March 24, 2026 shows guests attending a sub-forum during the BFA Annual Conference 2026 in Boao Town, Qionghai City, south China's Hainan Province. (Wang Xinyuan/Guangming Picture)

Tides rise from the South China Sea, and lush greenery blankets the Dongyu Island. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA). Over the past 25 years, Boao has witnessed Asia's great leap from catching up with the rest of the world to leading global development, and witnessed the evolution of the global governance system heading toward a more righteous and rational direction. Amid today's complex and shifting global landscape, this platform for advancing peaceful cooperation and pursuing mutual benefits and win-win outcome has become more valuable than ever.

On March 24, the 2026 BFA annual conference kicked off. Topics such as "Strengthening Cooperation among Regional Organizations to Forge Synergy in Policy Coordination" and "Free Trade Ports: Opportunities and Missions as Gateways for Opening-up" ignited brainstorming. Whether it is the speech delivered by attending guests, or the flagship report that draws wide attention, all echo the theme — "Shaping a Shared Future: New Dynamics, New Opportunities, New Cooperation" — of this year’s annual conference. As BFA Secretary-General Zhang Jun pointed out, the theme aims to convey a message: In a fast-changing world, challenges and opportunities coexist with each other, Asian countries should remain confident, turn challenges into opportunities, achieve win-win outcomes through cooperation, and build a better future with joint efforts.

Sailing with cooperation, seizing development opportunities together. This year marks the inaugural year of both China's "15th Five-Year Plan" and the Hainan Free Trade Port's customs closure. This year's annual conference has highlighted topics including "China Economy Outlook," "Investing in China to Share the Future," and the Global Free Trade Ports Development Forum. From the attending guests' perspective, the outline of China's "15th Five-Year Plan" not only stands for a "new blueprint" of China's development, but provides "new opportunities" for the development of Asia and the world. A China that maintains steady growth while seeking innovation for excellence is committed to acting as a "stabilizing anchor" and "stabilizing port" for the world. It will continue to promote high-quality development, expand high-level opening-up, enlarge the circle of partnerships, create a bigger economic cake with all nations, and steadily provide strong impetus for the world's economic development.

Riding favorable wind, exploring development momentum together. The global economy is undergoing a profound transformation. Fields such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy and green energy are regarded as new engines driving development in all countries. Against this backdrop, only innovators can advance, thrive and prevail. This year's annual conference has grasped the cutting-edge of such trends. It focused on key topics such as digital and intelligent empowerment driving industrial upgrading, advancement of humanoid robots, implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals, paths and actions for accelerating green transformation, future of AI+ healthcare, development of blue economy, construction of smart cities, and the promotion of long-term value investment. It also discussed cooperation opportunities and pathways, demonstrating the profound reshaping of economic and social development by the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation.

With its rudder held true, a sail can keep steady; with joint efforts, we can share the fruits of prosperity. At a time when global trade barriers are being erected and economic globalization is against headwinds, regional cooperation to resist external risks becomes even more important and imperative. The implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership continuously delivers benefits, the construction of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area steadily makes breakthroughs, and the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation within the region keeps rising... Asia remains a key engine of global economy and an even more prominent platform for global development and cooperation. This year’s conference concentrates on topics such as revitalizing APEC, understanding the new global trade pattern amid tariff wars, and safeguarding common economic security. The practice of Asian nations deepening regional cooperation and building open world economy is vivid , which will inject greater certainty and positive momentum into a turbulent world.

Boao's tides rise while wind blows and sail hangs. Challenges still lie ahead, but as long as all countries uphold the concept of inclusiveness and mutual benefit, replace division with unity, resolve contradiction by cooperation, drive development through innovation, we will ride the tide of the times and build a promising future hand in hand.

Contributed by Cao Yuanlong, Guangming Daily reporter

Translated by Zhang Xijin