A Champion of Globalization

Globalization and free trade dominated discussions at the Boao Forum for Asia（BFA） Annual Conference held in Boao， south Chinas Hainan Province， from March 23 to 26. With the theme Globalization and Free Trade： The Asian Perspectives， the event ended with a declaration on economic globalization.

As anti-globalization sentiment is resurgent among some major economies， this years BFA conference highlighted the international communitys attention， especially that of Asian countries， to the issue as well as Chinas efforts to defend globalization.

Since the 2008 global fi nancial crisis， the world economy has been plagued by sluggish growth. Populism has surfaced in major economies such as the U.S.， the UK and France.

Its wrong and futile， however， to simply attribute the current problems to globalization.

The BFA declaration says， “The root cause of these structural problems is not economic globalization per se， but the failure of the existing systems of global governance to keep up with profound changes in the world economic landscape. Thus， de-globalization measures are unlikely to solve the problems， and could even create new challenges for global growth.” It suggests that the world must actively adapt to the force of economic globalization and reform global governance.

Whether countries can accommodate the trend of globalization or would rather cut off capital， technological， industrial and people-to-people exchanges with the outside world will determine the future of the world economy.

The U.S.， the UK， France and China are all benefi ciaries of globalization. The U.S. and the UK were once the champions of the initiative when they reaped benefi ts from it. However， a responsible government should act to solve the problems of globalization when they occur.

China will further its opening up and oppose protectionism in any form. It will solve economic and trade disputes with relevant countries through negotiation in order to promote a balanced， mutually benefi cial and forward-looking multilateral economic and trade system.

The nation is sharing development opportunities with countries involved in the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative. At present， over 100 countries have joined the initiative， and 65 of them have signed memoranda of understanding on cooperation with China. Beijing will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May to demonstrate Chinas commitment to globalization. In the meantime， China is actively promoting talks on regional trade arrangements including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific in a bid to build a more open and fair international trade and investment system.