The 2022 Boao Forum for Asia for Global Development and A Shared Future

By Lily Wang

On April 22， the three-day long Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 ended in Boao， Hainan. This years theme was “The world in COVID-19 & Beyond： Working Together for Global Development and Shared future”. Representatives from 42 countries and regions attended the annual conference both offline and online and shared their insights and opinions.

At the forum Chinas commitment to sticking to opening-up and reform was clarified， as well as the focus on globalization and cooperation for a global win-win situation. Over the years， while realizing its own development， China has become an important driving force behind global economic growth as a result of its huge market demands and strong growth momentum. In the future， China will continue to stabilize the macro-economic market， release the dividends of reform and opening up， and provide impetus for the recovery of the global economy and trade.

Chinas faith in and its commitment to reform and opening-up will not waver

Chinas President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia （BFA） Annual Conference 2022 via a video call， and delivered a keynote speech titled “Rising to Challenges and Building a Bright Future Through Cooperation”.

Xi Jinping said that changes in the world， of our times and of history are unfolding in ways like never before， and these changes are posing challenges that must be taken seriously by humanity. He emphasized that in order to break through the mist and embrace a bright future， as a globe， cooperation and solidarity are the most effective ways.“Over the past two years and more， the international community has been working extremely hard to respond to the COVID-19 challenge and boost global recovery and development. The hardships and challenges are yet another reminder that humanity is a community with a shared future where all people rise and fall together， and that all countries need to follow the trend of the times featuring peace， development and win-win cooperation， moving in the direction of building a community with a shared future for mankind， and rise to challenges and build a bright future through cooperation.”

Xi Jinping said that over the past decades， Asia has enjoyed overall stability and sustained rapid growth， making the Asian Miracle possible. When Asia fares well， the whole world benefits. Therefore， we need to continue developing and strengthening Asia， demonstrate Asias resilience， wisdom and strength， and make Asia an anchor for world peace， a powerhouse for global growth and a new pacesetter for international cooperation.

First， we should resolutely safeguard peace in Asia. The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the Bandung Spirit， first advocated by Asia， are all the more relevant today. We should honor such principles as mutual respect， equality， mutual benefits and peaceful coexistence， as well as follow a policy of good-neighborliness and friendship， and make sure that we always keep our future in our own hands.

Second， we should vigorously advance Asian cooperation. The entry into force of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership （RCEP） and the opening to traffic of the ChinaLaos railway have effectively boosted institutional and physical connectivity in our region. We should seize these opportunities to foster a more open Asiawide market and make new strides in mutually beneficial cooperation.

Third， we should jointly promote Asian unity. We should cement ASEAN centrality in the regional architecture， and uphold a regional order that balances the aspirations and accommodates the interests of all parties. Countries， no matter their size and strength， and both in and outside the region， should all add splendor rather than trouble to Asia. All should follow the path of peace and development， seek win-win cooperation， and contribute to an Asian family of unity and progress together.

Xi Jinping pointed out， “the fundamentals of the Chinese economy -its strong resilience， enormous potential， vast room for manoeuvre and longterm sustainability - remain unchanged. They will provide great dynamism for the stability and recovery of the world economy and broader market opportunities for all countries. China will fully apply its new development philosophy， accelerate the establishment of a new development paradigm， and redouble efforts for high-quality development. No matter how the world will change， Chinas faith in and its commitment to reform and opening-up will not waver. China will unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development， and always be a builder of world peace， a contributor to global development， and a defender of the international order.”

Dual Carbon as the key words

A focus of this years forum was on the dual carbon transition， including government and corporate action to achieve carbon neutralization， energy integrated development， building sustainable ESG and achieving green development.

Ban Ki-moon， Chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia， urged the international community to take action to tackle climate matters. He said that climate change has been an important topic in each years Boao Forum. Current climate matters have brought new risks to the globe and the international community has been making great efforts， such as signing the Paris Agreement and holding the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. He said， that “world countries shall make bold commitments and step up green actions”.

Zhou Xiaochuan， Vice Chairman of the forum and Chairman of the China Society for Finance and Banking， said in his speech that the carbon market can play an important role in optimizing resource allocation， and that the combination of carbon tax and carbon trading can be considered in carbon pricing.

In Zhous view， due to countries being in different stages of development， their marginal costs for carbon reduction also differ per countries. Such difference leads to the inconsistency of the carbon price of different markets. To achieve the goal of carbon neutralization， the most important thing is to find an optimal path and have an optimal incentive mechanism at each time point. It is important to give enterprises positive expectations for their investment and loan applications to reduce carbon and promote the market towards better operations.

Gao Jifan， Chairman of Trinasolar， said in his speech that solar power will play the most important role in the carbon neutralization process. To achieve carbon neutralization in China by 2060， and in European countries and the U.S. by 2050， it is essential to build a completely new power system relying on solar photovoltaic power generation. Such a system would include energy storage and a digital energy management system.

When talking about the reason behind this， Gao said that through technological innovation， the cost of solar energy today is 1/25th of that of 25 years ago. He gave an example that， in Chinas coastal waters， the cost of solar power generation is 3 cents per kilowatt hour， and in Sichuans Abazhou， the cost is 2 cents per kilowatt hour. The UAE in the Middle East features even cheaper prices， where the cost of generating power through solar systems is only 1.3 cents per kilowatt hour. He pointed out that with the progress of solar photovoltaic technology， the cost will continue to decline. “In the future， solar photovoltaic will become the cheapest， cleanest and safest energy in the world.”

On the other hand， compared with wind and hydropower， solar energy resources are more abundant and have no geographical restrictions. If it can be fully developed， solar energy will effectively solve energy disputes. “Solar energy is not only clean， low-carbon and safe energy， but also the civilized and scientific energy.”

Zhang Yue， Chairman and President of Broad Group， stressed in his speech that all parties can gain practical benefits by sticking to the concept of carbon neutrality， but the concept still needs to evolve into efficient action.

Zhang said that for enterprises， establishing a medium and long-term mechanism of carbon neutralization can reduce costs and bring economic benefits. For the social public， optimizing the energy structure is also conducive to ensuring the safety of energy， production and life.

Liu Qiao， Dean of the Guanghua School of Management， said in his speech that carbon neutralization is not a simple technical issue， but is deeply connected with economics and management science. He believes that carbon neutralization may bring about the emergence of a new form of civilization， which requires a lot of infrastructure investment. Fiscal policy should also play a more active role， such as issuing long-term treasury bonds and carbon neutralization bonds with a term of 30-40 years. The money collected can be invested in areas and industries that are key to carbon neutralization. In addition， green finance， green bonds and green credit， including PE and VC， should be used more frequently to promote technological investment related to carbon neutralization.

Discussions about new practices of the Belt and Road initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative has achieved tangible results in infrastructure construction， economic and trade cooperation and other fields， and has become a successful practice of joint cooperation among countries of the Belt and Road region. Lao Prime Minister Phankham Viphavanh said that Laos is very proud to join the Belt and Road， and that the opening of traffic on the China-Laos Railway on December 3， 2021 was one of the most important projects as part of this. He stressed that， as a part of the ChinaLaos economic corridor， the opening of the China-Laos Railway will further promote regional and sub-regional cooperation. It will also help mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and bring tangible benefits to regional inter-connectivity. Vishawa Siphandone， Minister of Public Works and Transport of Laos， said that the China-Laos railway has not only connected the two countries， but also brought countries of the Indochina Peninsula more closely.

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that Pakistan embraces the the Belt and Road Initiative with open arms. China and Pakistan have an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership， which is very important for Pakistans economic prosperity and employment.“Although the personnel exchanges between China and Pakistan have decreased since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic， bilateral relations have not been weakened. We should actively encourage financial cooperation and continue our efforts to promote the the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.”

“Kazakhstan has long been a reliable partner of China. We have always stood on Chinas side when China carries out international initiatives，” said Karat Torebayev， Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Trade and Integration of Kazakhstan. He emphasized that China and Kazakhstan have a long-term and fruitful， cooperative partnership， and that the Belt and Road Initiative is conducive to win-win cooperation between the two sides and has already brought many successes. As one of the first countries to join the Belt and Road Initiative and also one of Chinas strategic cooperation partners， Kazakhstan has launched many infrastructure construction projects since the Belt and Road Initiative was launched， and relevant funds have invested in some infrastructure projects such as railways， roads and ports. These works will further consolidate Kazakhstans status as a regional logistics and trade center by 2025.

The Belt and Road connectivity projects continue to make new progress despite the pandemic， and these projects have laid a good foundation for the economic recovery of relevant countries. However， the debt sustainability of many developing countries has continued to face pressure due to the continuity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the excessive issuance of currency. How to improve the G20s common framework for debt treatment， and drive new funds to enter countries along the the Belt and Road has become a common concern at the forum. Hu Xiaolian， Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of China， believes that debt problems of developing countries are continuing to exacerbate due to the impact of the pandemic and conflict between Russia and Ukraine. To solve the debt problem， she believes that the most important thing is that multilateral international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank should take joint action， adhere to the principle of fair sharing of the burden and promote debt extension together. It is important to take into account the credibility of developing countries and that debt restructuring cannot be carried out indiscriminately. Zhou Xiaochuan believes that development is the absolute principle and that debt can only be recycled through development. He believes that in dealing with the debt problem， we should consider the market conditions and financial institutions of different countries and try our best to help them.

As the green movement has been developing around the world， the importance of jointly building the green Silk Road has become particularly prominent. While promoting economic cooperation and mutual benefits， the Belt and Road initiative also adheres to the green concept and promotes green infrastructure construction， green investment and green finance. Hou Qijun， General Manager of the CNPC （China National Petroleum Corporation）， said that the CNPC used to be an oil and gas enterprise. Now it has formulated a green development strategy， taking the importance of being green and low-carbon as one of its five developmental strategies. By 2035， oil， gas and new energy will become the three business pillars of the enterprise. “We have start implementing this strategy in China and new experiences and technologies can be applied to countries along the Belt and Road region， to achieve high-quality development of the CNPC.”

The RCEP contributes to global economic recovery

Whether in terms of total population or GDP， the 15 RCEP countries combined account for nearly 1/3rd of the world and ranked first among global regional free trade agreements. Long Yongtu， former Vice Minister of Commerce of China， said that the signing of the RCEP in the Asia Pacific region symbolizes that the global economic focus had shifted to the Asia Pacific region. “It involves not only traditional areas such as tariff concessions， border quarantine and dispute settlement mechanisms， but also areas rarely covered by past free trade agreements， including trade in services， investment access and e-commerce. It has a wide range and great potential.”

When talking about the impact of the signing of the RCEP agreement on the economic and trade pattern of the Asia Pacific region， Zheng Yongnian， Director of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies， the Chinese University of Hong Kong， Shenzhen， said that the RCEP is a new type of multilateralism and represents the first step in the institutionalization of the economy and trade in Asia. “Because we have different political systems， religions and different stages of economic development， multilateralism shall be based on development benefits， so that it will better promote the integration of the region. The RCEP shall be regarded as multilateralism based on consensus， not an imposed standard.”

The RCEP represents the success of free trade and multilateralism， and will contribute to the economic recovery of Asia and the world. However， considering the differences in the economic structures of the 15 member states， Cai Qiang， Director of the Tariff Department of the Ministry of Finance， said that： “the diversity among the countries is actually an advantage. Amongst the RCEP countries， we can solve a series of problems from financing to raw materials， processing and production， and then to sales， and then we have such a circular basis. So under the RCEP framework， China， Japan and South Korea have historically reached a free trade agreement arrangement including rules of origin. These new mechanisms will promote the industrial upgrading and optimization of the RCEP region.”

The digital economy empowers the future

At present， the scale of Chinas digital economy continues to grow. According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology， the scale of Chinas digital economy increased from RMB 2.6 trillion in 2005 to RMB 39.2 trillion in 2020. Its proportion of GDP increased from 14.2% to 38.68%. Developing the digital economy has become a global consensus.

According to Li Zhengmao， General Manager of China Telecom， no one， no enterprise， no industry or no country can avoid the tide of the digital economy. The digital economys influence is so profound that the current economy has been changing from industrial economy towards the digital economy.

“At present， although China is in the early stage of the development of the digital economy， it has been very developed. Everyone can benefit from the life convenience brought by the digital economy， such as e-commerce and precise control of the pandemic.”Qian Kun， Senior Vice President of Qualcomm， believes that the digital economy is based on basic technologies， among which wireless communication technology represented by 5G provides important support for the digital economy； in addition， the application of artificial intelligence （AI）， cloud computing and other technologies has also promoted the development of digitization. On top of this infrastructure， many new technologies and business forms can be generated.

“Now we should not just talk about the digital economy， but we need to combine it with the real economy. Using AI， 5G and big data technologies， the intelligent ecology that makes everything perceptible， interconnected and intelligent， which can be a source of huge social and economic advances if it can be applied to all walks of life.” Wan Biao， Chairman of Honor Device Co.， Ltd.， said that the digital technology should be combined with industry and the real economy. When providing intelligent products to consumers， if there is no digital service， the hardware is a “dead”hardware. AI， big data and 5G technologies shall be applied to create valuable services for consumers.