The 2023 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference is slated to be held from March 28 to 31 in Bo’ao, a coastal town in south China’s island province of Hainan, with two Hainan themed sub-forums to be held on the 29th, according to the organizing committee.

The permanent site of the Boao Forum for Asia in the town of Bo’ao, Qionghai, Hainan Province, where this year’s conference, themed “An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges”, is scheduled to be held from March 28 to 31. [Photo / Yuan Chen]

One sub-forum is themed “Dialogue in Hainan: Tropical Agricultural Cooperation and Prospects between China (Hainan) and ASEAN”. With Hainan and ASEAN member states both in the tropical zone, tropical agriculture, one of the four leading industries in the Hainan Free Trade Port, is an important area with promising prospects for deepening cooperation. The topics for discussion at the sub-forum include how to harmonize agricultural development policies to maximize synergy, which will rev up Hainan’s high-level opening-up and economic growth.

The Hainan ASEAN Digital Transaction Platform for Tropical Produce, which was unveiled on February 22 in Ledong, Hainan. [Photo / Zhang Hongbo]

The other sub-forum, themed “Global Free Trade Port Development: Institutional Opening-up and Free Trade”, will invite discussion on how to strengthen cooperation among free trade zones (ports) around the globe via the exploration of high-standard international trade rules, and how to activate the synergy effect of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) rules and free trade zone (port) policies.

Aerial view of Haikou Port, a vital hub for Hainan’s foreign trade. Over the first two months of this year, Hainan’s imports from and exports to other RCEP member countries reached RMB 10.51 billion, an increase of 14.2%, accounting for 30.5% of the province’s total trade volume. [Photo / Hainan Daily]

Since China issued a master plan in June, 2020 to develop Hainan into a globally influential free trade port by the middle of the century, the island province has committed to furthering high-level opening-up by deepening partnerships with global free trade zones (ports) and jointly pursuing interconnected development with the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area.

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.