A Message of Hope for a Stricken World

AN annual gathering of business people and government representatives from the Asia Pacific region and beyond each year at the Boao Forum for Asia in south China’s Hainan Island is always an occasion to gain fresh insights into economic development in the region and the rest of the world. Since taking the helm of the country, President Xi Jinping has addressed the forum’s annual conference multiple times.

- WILLIAM JONES

The theme of this year’s conference is “A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance Belt and Road Cooperation.” In the backdrop of the major tensions between China and the U.S. and the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged the world over the past year, President Xi, in his speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the 2021 conference, presented a pathway forward for the region and the world, based on cooperation and mutual respect between nations rather than on unilateral decisions of individual countries, while emphasizing the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits.

Noting that this was the 20th anniversary of the Boao Forum for Asia, Xi reflected on how the economy of the Asia Pacific region has seen incredible development during that period. “Over these two decades, Asian countries have advanced regional economic integration and worked in unison to pursue both economic and social development, which has turned Asia into the most vibrant and promising region in the global economy,” Xi said. At the same time, he noted that the world has entered a period of dramatic and unsettling changes. “Now, the combined forces of changes and a pandemic both unseen in a century have brought the world into a phase of fluidity and transformation,” Xi said. “Instability and uncertainty are clearly on the rise. Humanity is facing a growing governance deficit, trust deficit, development deficit, and peace deficit. Much remains to be done to achieve universal security and common development.” The question now before mankind, Xi pointed out, is which way humanity should proceed in order to secure the future for the coming generations.