The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2025 concluded on Friday, with BFA Secretary-General Zhang Jun emphasizing the forum's broad consensus on strengthening regional cooperation, advancing economic integration, and ensuring global supply chain stability.
Held in China's southern island province of Hainan, the four-day forum convened nearly 2,000 participants from more than 60 countries and regions. With over 50 sub-forums, high-level dialogs, and other events over four days, the forum reached broad consensus on key issues.
Secretary-General Zhang highlighted the forum's achievements in fostering regional cooperation, economic integration, and high-quality development, summarizing the positive outcomes of the discussions.
"A distinctive Asian model of regional cooperation and economic governance is emerging. Asian economies are demonstrating strong resilience and vitality, with China playing an increasingly prominent leading role. In several discussions, I heard some representatives, including members of the Forum's board, clearly state that the focus on development remains Asia's basic consensus for the future. It is essential that we continue adhering to open regionalism, strengthening connectivity, and ensuring the smooth and stable operation of regional and global industrial and supply chains," Zhang said in the closing press briefing.
In addition to the formal meetings, approximately 200 official meetings were held during the forum, yielding many practical cooperation agreements, according to preliminary statistics.
This year's conference marked the first since the launch of the "Boao Zero-Carbon Demonstration Zone," a significant step forward in the country's pursuit of low-carbon development.
Boao Forum for Asia closes with broad consensus on enhancing regional cooperation: secretary-general
As the countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup continues, global anticipation is soaring ahead of the biggest ever edition of the showpiece soccer event, with orders for related goods surging in Yiwu, an eastern Chinese city known as "the world's supermarket".
The expanded 2026 tournament will feature a record number of 48 teams and see the competition being hosted across three countries for the first time, with matches scheduled to take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
In the sports goods section of the Yiwu International Trade Market in Zhejiang Province, buyers from all around the world can be seen enthusiastically patrolling the huge marketplace with lengthy order lists, searching for the products they need.
With replica jerseys, memorabilia items, and top-quality sports gear all on offer, vendors are keen to tap into the fan fever ahead of the international footballing extravaganza.
For many, the World Cup is a once-every-four-years highlight, and with this year's tournament set to be bigger than ever, business opportunities are in abundance.
"Since the tournament is being hosted by three countries, the volume may be even higher than before. Orders could increase by 50 percent compared to previous World Cups. Today, we are also preparing an order to be shipped by air," said Chen Jian, a vendor at the Yiwu International Trade Market.
As sales climb, production lines are also running at full speed. In a local football factory, machines roar and workers skillfully glue and stitch, turning out brand-new footballs on the assembly line. As the 2026 World Cup fast approaches, the company's football-related sales have skyrocketed, with daily output reaching 4,000 balls and the firm seeing almost no inventory backlog.
According to customs data, exports of sports goods and equipment from Yiwu reached 2.34 billion yuan (about 340 million U.S. dollars) in January and February 2026, up 38.5 percent year on year.
The Yiwu International Trade Market has become an important center for foreign trade, housing nearly 80,000 booths offering over two million types of commodities, with the market maintaining trade ties with 233 countries and regions worldwide.
World Cup fever drives export boom from China's Yiwu as orders surge
