Economy

Boao forum vies to be Asia's key voice

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-12 09:44

BOAO, Hainan: China will work to make the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) a key voice of Asia and more globally represented, the BFA's newly-elected secretary-general Zhou Wenzhong said Sunday.

Zhou, a veteran Chinese diplomat, said that for the first time, the BFA's new board of directors has several members from other continents, including former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

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This created conditions for the forum to be more globally represented, Zhou told Xinhua before the BFA wrapped up its annual conference on Sunday in Boao in south China's island province of Hainan.

The forum represents Asia's consensus and it belongs to the whole Asia, said Zhou, who will take the post from Long Yongtu, former deputy trade minister of China.

The three-day conference, with the theme of "Green Recovery: Asia's Realistic Choice for Sustainable Growth," concluded Sunday. It attracted about 2,000 political and business heavyweights and experts from Asia and around the world.

Established in 2001, the BFA is committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries even closer to their development goals.