The Boao Forum for the Asia annual conference kicked off on Wednesday in Boao, a coastal town in China's southernmost province of Hainan, under the theme of "The World in COVID-19 & Beyond: Working Together for Global Development and a Shared Future."

Scheduled for April 20-22, this year’s conference will be an on-site occasion supplemented with online links to over 30 sub-forums and activities.

It will focus on six key areas, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the world economy, green recovery and sustainable development, the digital economy, international cooperation and global governance, as well as new progress in Asian regional cooperation.

The forum will sum up world experience in fighting against the pandemic to narrow down the “immunization gap,” stick to correlative issues and further probe the trends of the world economy, including the industrial chain and inflation, and probe ways to promote inclusive development for the world. The BFA will also seek to answer how to coordinate policy making for the digital economy, how to promote the development of the digital economy, and how to promote global governance and build a community with a shared future for mankind. The conference will further explore the opportunities of RCEP and its utilization, so as to deepen cooperation in the region.

Low-carbon services are getting increasingly popular in Boao city, coinciding with the green organizing concept of the BFA annual conference this year.

"About 300 of the service vehicles are new energy vehicles. A total of 145 charging piles have been built in and around the hotels in the core area of the event and a ‘green power trading system’ has been established for the first time. The system will ensure 100 percent green power supply for the hotel venues,” said a local official.

The BFA annual conference hosted its 20th edition last year after being canceled in 2020 due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

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