Four Hainan-themed sub-forums held at Boao Forum for Asia 2021

The inclusion of four Hainan-themed sub-forums on the schedule of this year's Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) means more topics on Hainan will be discussed at the event, which kicks off on April 18, according to details given out at a press conference.

Photo taken on April 17, 2021 shows the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) International Conference Center in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

While serving diplomatic purposes, the sub-forums are also aimed at giving an overview of Hainan to guests from home and abroad and share Hainan’s development wisdom, such as its integration into the Belt and Road Initiative while working to build the Hainan free trade port, according to the press conference held on April 15 in Boao, a coastal town in Hainan where the Forum is held.

The first sub-forum, the ASEAN-China Governors/Mayors' Dialogue, will be held on the second day of the BFA. The sub-forum titled 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: Island Economic Cooperation, which has been held four times, will focus on the role islands play in building a maritime community with a shared future.

A sub-forum on the development trend of global free trade ports will be held for the first time after China started building Hainan into a pilot free trade zone covering the whole island. Another sub-forum will focus on poverty alleviation and sustainable development of rural areas.

The four sub-forums will all be held both online and offline as part of COVID-19 prevention and control measures. The BFA, which holds its 20th edition, will be the first major international conference in the world this year to be mainly held offline but partly online. More than 1,500 participants, including over 80 senior Chinese officials, some 60 foreign diplomats in China, and over 130 entrepreneurs from China and abroad, take part in the offline part of the forum's annual conference.