Wang Qishan speaks at the opening ceremony  Source: Boao Forum for Asia

The People's Daily reported on April 21 that Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan attended the opening ceremony of Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2021 in Boao, Hainan, April 20. Wang met with members of the BFA board of directors and the forum's strategic partners, and exchanged views with representatives from the business circle.

At the opening ceremony, Wang Qishan extended his warm congratulations to the Forum on its 20th anniversary. He said that President Xi Jinping delivered a video keynote speech at this year's opening ceremony to elaborate China's position and share Chinese solutions on promoting the development and prosperity in Asia and the world, and also expressed the Chinese government's consistent support for the development and growth of the Forum.

At a meeting with members of the BFA board of directors and the forum's strategic partners, Wang Qishan pointed out that over the past 20 years, the Forum has grown into a high-level platform for strengthening dialogue and seeking cooperation between the political, business and academic sectors, and has played an important role in the development of Asia and exchanges between Asia and the world. The world is currently undergoing new, complex and profound changes, and all parties need to strengthen exchanges, build consensus and cooperate to find ways to respond. Therefore, the forum is now experiencing a broad space for development.

Wang Qishan said that the theme of BFA Annual Conference 2021, "A World in Change: Join Hands to Strengthen Global Governance and Advance Belt and Road Cooperation", points out the urgent issues of the current world order and reflects the heartfelt wishes of the international community. The world shares a common future, and peaceful development is the world trend. President Xi Jinping's keynote speech once again showed that China advocates solidarity over division, cooperation over confrontation and openness over isolation, upholds and practices multilateralism, promotes the common values of all mankind, and keeps pursuing a community with a shared future for mankind through the "Belt and Road" Initiative.

Wang Qishan expressed the hope that Boao Forum for Asia can form more Boao views with Asian countries' wisdom to improve suggestions for the long-term development and prosperity in Asia. Wang encouraged people to grasp the pulse of the times and pay attention to the emerging new trends of international politics, economies, societies, cultures and ecological civilization to promote all parties to meet challenges and share opportunities. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of talent teams and think tanks to provide more intellectual support for governments and enterprises to carry out pragmatic cooperation.

BFA Chairman Ban Ki-moon, former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand Surakiart Sathirathai and members of the BFA board of directors and representatives from BFA strategic partners spoke highly of President Xi Jinping's keynote speech, recognized China's leading role in fighting Covid-19 and economic recovery, and expressed their readiness to provide experience and insights for promoting multilateralism, opening-up and inclusiveness.

When meeting with entrepreneurs, Wang Qishan said the Communist Party of China aims to meet the people's aspirations for a better life. The 20-year development and changes in Boao and the continuous growth of foreign enterprises in China demonstrate the continuous improvement of socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. There is no end to development, reform and opening-up. It is a profound revolution as well as a long-term historical process for entering a new stage, implementing new concepts, building a new pattern, and realizing the modernization of the Chinese nation. Wang stressed that glory and suffering accompany each other. People must stay calm and sober through historical, cultural and philosophical thinking and build confidence and patience. We hope that the government, society and all sectors of business will deeply understand the essence of President Xi Jinping's keynote speech, adhere to the ideals, stay on the ground and keep moving forward.

Entrepreneurs attending the meeting said that China's proposals and the super-resilient economy of China are exciting. They said they would seize the opportunity to deeply integrate into China's fostering of a new development paradigm and commit to jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative.

On the 19th, Wang Qishan also attended the launching ceremony of the exhibition to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Boao Forum for Asia and visited  the exhibition.