Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026 concludes with fruitful results

The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2026 concluded in south China's tropical island province of Hainan on Friday, with fruitful results achieved to inject new impetus into multilateral cooperation.

The four-day BFA conference, themed "Shaping a Shared Future: New Dynamics, New Opportunities, New Cooperation", wrapped up after bringing together around 2,000 representatives from over 60 countries and regions around the world to discuss a broad range of issues including Asia's development, multilateralism, free trade, globalization, digitalization and green transition.

As a key outcome of the event, the "Boao Forum for Asia Initiative on Promoting Regional Cooperation in Asia" was released. The initiative calls for upholding open development, maintaining the correct direction, and injecting new impetus into globalization, free trade, and multilateral cooperation through inclusive, open and flexible regionalism. During the annual conference, several discussions were held centering China's development. All parties were generally optimistic about China's economic prospects, believing that the Chinese economy has demonstrated strong resilience and vitality.

"China's development planning and high-quality development in the future will have a profound global impact. Chinese-style modernization will add greater certainty to world development and provide a new path to addressing global development imbalances. China's expanded high-level opening-up and continuous optimization of its business environment will also provide new strategic opportunities for global enterprises," Zhang Jun, BFA secretary general, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the conference on Friday.

The annual conference this year focused on cutting-edge and popular topics such as "AI+" and humanoid robots. Representatives discussed the latest trends and cooperation opportunities in the transformation of the world economy.

"All parties agree that the global economic wave of digitalization and greening is deepening. Asia has broken the traditional binary that growth and low carbon are mutually exclusive, and achieved an in-depth integration between green transformation and digital transformation," Zhang said.

Guests attending the forum said that, in the face of the challenges facing the world today, different countries and fields should deepen exchanges, enhance mutual trust, and promote the building of broad, stable and close partnerships to inject more positive energy into world peace and development. "At the Boao Forum, people still uphold and advocate multilateralism, free trade and globalization, and remain committed to rebuilding trust, solidarity and cooperation, and creating a shared future. This stands in stark contrast to some other occasions, giving people a greater sense of confidence, hope and strength," Zhang said.

Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026 concludes with fruitful results

Chinese mainland stocks edged higher on Friday, outperforming their regional peers, as strong industrial profit data lifted market sentiment despite lingering worries over Middle East tensions, said Wang Ying, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN).

Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.63 percent to 3,913.72 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.13 percent higher at 13,760.37 points.

Shares related to the lithium battery industrial chain and pharmaceutical and chemical sectors led the gains, while the green power sector suffered steep losses.

"The Shanghai Composite index inched up 0.63 percent, while the Shenzhen Component index added 1.13 percent. And the blue chip CSI 300 index rose 0.56 percent. The slight strength came after China's industrial firms reported strong profit growth early in the year, reinforcing recovery signals in China even as the Middle East conflict threatens global growth," Wang said.

"Industrial profits grew 15.2 percent in the first two months over the same period last year. And among the sectors reporting the fastest profit growth were computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing with a 200 percent rise during the period. Across the board today, the green power sector was outperforming, with Henan Yuneng Holdings and Jinneng Holding Shanxi Electric Power both jumping to the upper daily limit. Gains also were coming from pharmaceuticals, chemical industry and lithium battery sectors," said the analyst.

Chinese mainland stocks edge higher on Friday as strong industrial profit data lifts market sentiment