By Ashna Butani
The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that President Xi Jinping will be attending the Boao Asia Forum and will also be delivering the keynote speech for the opening ceremony.
State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference that Xi’s speech will aim to provide, “a new vision of development that will offer greater opportunities for the world.”
Modelled after the World Economic Forum, the forum is scheduled to be held from April 8 to 11. The theme for this year is ‘An open and innovative Asia for a world of greater prosperity.’
Other leaders such as the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, International Monetary Fund’s Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Presidents of Philippines and Austria will also be attending.
Key Areas of Discussion
Wang added the key areas of discussion will include China’s development plans, new prospects for reform as well as promoting new partnerships with other nations.
Media outlets also predict that one of Xi’s major announcements at the forum could be about China’s plans to create free-trade ports. Speaking to the party congress last year, Xi had announced that China will “give more autonomy to the free-trade pilot zones to explore ways of building up free-trade ports”.
Although discussions in the forum generally focus on economic issues, media outlets report that Xi is expected to soothe some concerns about China’s move to one-man rule, with Xi being appointed “president for life” after the Congress repealed presidential term limits last month.
Also Read: Xi Jinping poised to become “president for life” as China scraps term limits
Expected impact of the forum
While the move might enhance better trade relations with certain Western nations, China could risk a greater rivalry with the announcement of the establishment of free ports. Competition between the two nations has greatly intensified over the past few years with Hong Kong losing its status as the world’s busiest container port.
Besides attracting more trade and investment, China will also attract financial and technological resources to the free ports. Earlier foreign investors could only set up operations through joint ventures. However, last year, Tesla revealed that it has come to an agreement with China’s government to set up a fully owned factory in Shanghai’s free trade zone, thereby proving China is moving away from old policies.
What else is in store?
The Prime Ministers of Pakistan, Singapore, Netherlands and Mongolia, along with 2000 other political and economic leaders, will also be attending the forum.
Also Read: China’s propaganda drive after reappointment of Xi Jinping as President
While the forum is designed to strengthen regional ties, it has unofficially become a strategic hub for Chinese innovators. With China on the brink of a trade war with the United States, the comments from the Ministry prove that China is set to use the “major diplomatic event” to illustrate Xi’s commitment to opening up access to its huge markets. However, with Xi’s ongoing propaganda drive after becoming “president for life” it is hard to tell whether the forum will merely be a diplomacy stunt or herald an era of changed policy.
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