Li Baodong, secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), speaks at a press conference of the 2021 BFA annual conference in Boao, south China's Hainan Province, April 18, 2021. The BFA's annual conference runs from April 18 to 21 in south China's island province of Hainan. This year's annual conference will be mainly held offline with the addition of online features as part of ongoing COVID-19 prevention and control efforts, with over 2,600 delegates expected to participate in person, making it the world's first large-scale international conference to be held this year in predominantly offline forms. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)
BOAO, Hainan, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Over 2,600 delegates, including government officials, entrepreneurs and scholars from over 60 countries and regions, are expected to attend the 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference in person, authorities said at a press conference Sunday.
Approximately 1,200 journalists from 160 media organizations in 18 countries and regions will attend the conference, said BFA Secretary General Li Baodong at the press conference.
Asia is expected to be a major engine for global sustainable recovery in the fast-changing world, said Li, calling for joint efforts to overcome the pandemic, narrow the development deficit, increase economic integration, increase the sharing of experience to advance capacity building, and push for the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
The BFA annual conference runs from April 18 to 21 this year in Boao, a coastal town in south China's Hainan Province.
The BFA was founded in 2001. It is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals. Enditem