Asian Davos: Expanding Agenda for China’s Boao Forum

It was in 2001, that led by China, 26 leading economies and emerging markets across Asia-Pacific had established the Bo’ao Forum for Asia (BFA). modeled on the famous Davos Economic Forum. Since its inaugural meeting in April 2002, it has come to be an equally significant event in the calendar of most government, business, and academic leaders across the region. Also, like the Davos Economic Forum, BFA is hosted every year at a fixed venue – in the idyllic coastal town of Bo’ao in China’s southern most and smallest province of Hainan, though its Secretariat is based in Beijing.

The theme of the BFA this year was ‘Shared Future, Concerted Action, Common Development’. The forum has once again attracted over 2,000 participants from over 60 countries including over 140 ministerial-level officials and six heads of states like the Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith from Lao PDR, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel from Luxembourg, Sao Tome and Principe’s Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus, and Republic of Korea’s Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon. Several finance ministers and chiefs of central banks havevalso been rubbing shoulders hopping between their meetings on the sidelines in addition to the pre-scheduled over 50 sessions.

 This larger number of invited officials, experts and entrepreneurs from esteemed institutions and reputed corporations, including Fortune 500 companies, have been engaged in sharing their visions and brainstorming strategies for boosting the Asian and the world economy that is facing volatility in their asymmetries which has been lately triggered by President Trump’s trade wars against one and all.  China — the engine of global growth — and the world’s second largest economy reported slowest growth of 6.6 per cent since 1990 sparking anxieties about its implications. As its immediate backdrop, this week began with sharp decline in Japanese stocks followed by its reverberations across Asia.

 Indeed, never before have both the ascending as also the dominant powers together been so dissatisfied with the status quo in the extant global order. While the Trump administration’s ‘American First’ policy has been raising tariff and non-tariff barriers and promoting protectionism, since President Xi Jinping’s January 2016 Davos speech, China has come to personify as being the leading flag-bearer of globalisation 4.0 as also a leader in global climate change mitigation that Trump has denounced as a hoax. Juxtaposed with myriad challenges emanating from populist politics, technological competition, and mounting non-traditional threats from piracy to cyber security, rapidly eroding norms and institutions can no longer work with ad hoc solutions.

 All this has not only made the China-led BFA an increasing target of global anticipations but has also expanded its agenda from financial reforms to larger issues of governance and social frictions and gender equality. Starting from 2015, following President Xi Jinping’s focus on building a community of shared future for mankind, for example, the Bo’ao Forum has come to incorporate sessions on inter-religious and inter-cultural parleys. These are aimed at promoting co-existence by bridging the gap between societies that are facing an accelerated pace of intermingling, thanks to technologies of transport and communications, and especially that of social media.  The 39th Session on the last day of this year’s Forum saw specially invited religious leaders come together as the session is that of  a Religious Leaders’ Dialogue where different religious perspectives  addressed problems of conflict and violence and proposed ways to work for long-term prosperity and peace.

 As a host, China, of course, uses the BFA to showcase its achievements. The opening ceremony, for instance, released its 9th Asian Competitiveness Report that gauged 37 Asian economies from five perspectives: overall economic momentum, administrative efficiency in business, social development levels, infrastructure, human capital and innovative ability.  According to this 2019 index, the top five slots belong to South Korea, [China’s] Taiwan, Singapore, [China’s] Hong Kong and Japan while mainland China stands at 9th position. The focus on China has also been rather intense this year given that the BFA coincides with the American delegation holding negotiations in Beijing to hammer out their much delayed trade deal. Also, in face of continuing American allegations about China’s handling of intellectual property and business practices, various sessions this year have sought to evaluate the progress made in implementing President Xi Jinping’s pledges to liberalise the financial sector, the auto industry, and the overhaul of foreign investments laws.

 To cite a few examples, China has since allowed foreign banks, insurers, and securities to hold majority stakes in their subsidiaries in China, it has passed a new law on investments banning forced technology transfers but there have been reports of various hiccups at the level of actual implementation, and reforms are still awaited in streamlining its bloated state enterprises and opening the world’s largest car market. Understandably, as a host China has an advantage of having the largest contingent and several of the sessions are devoted to China-centric themes and formulations like Asian Competitiveness, Asian Economic Integration, Development of Emerging Economies, and Asian Financial Development that highlight the centrality of China. Debates this year, for instance, have sought to underline the linkages between China’s Belt & Road Initiative and globalisation. In these presentations the BRI is projected not just as a vision for building physical infrastructure — railways, expressways, ports and airports — but also as a locomotive for promoting soft-infrastructure like policy coordination, liberalisation of trade, investment facilitation and promoting free movement of capital, goods, and yes, people.

 So even if there may be a lesser number of heads of states and no chief of international financial institutions attending the BFA 2019, it has surely drawn much heightened global attention and come to bear expanded responsibilities. This has seen thought-leaders at the BFA gradually seeking solace in Asian wisdom and traditions. But Asia also presents a fast-moving kaleidoscope and to sustain equilibria in the ever changing shapes of its mosaic will continue to be an uphill task.

(The author is professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and a senior fellow, Institute for National Security Studies Sri Lanka (Colombo)

Aditi Bhaduri

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