Boao Forum: China supports global sustainable development

On March 24th, the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026 held a press conference and released two flagship reports - "Asia's Economic Prospects and Integration Process 2026 Annual Report" and "Asia and the World's Sustainable Development 2026 Annual Report". Among them, the "Asia and the World for Sustainable Development 2026 Annual Report" (hereinafter referred to as the report) believes that digital and green transformation, interconnectivity, innovative financing, deep integration of natural economy, and deepening of open regionalism bring five historical opportunities for sustainable development in Asia, which are expected to achieve leapfrog development.

The report mentions that digital and green transformation lays the foundation for creating a new Asian miracle. In response, Sima Zhe, Global Director of Ecosystem and Climate Economy Agency at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, stated in an interview with Global Times that under the influence of the Middle East situation, the global shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy will further accelerate. This incident has shown that excessive reliance on fossil fuels can bring great risks, and in the future, countries hope to reduce their dependence on traditional energy sources. In my homeland Pakistan, almost every household's roof can see Chinese made photovoltaic panels. People not only use them to meet their household electricity needs, but also apply them to agricultural production and power supply for small businesses. Sima Zhe believes that China's technological breakthroughs in the field of renewable energy provide extremely important opportunities for the world. Countries can adopt China's technology and expertise, and China can also help other countries introduce these technologies through investment. Pakistan and other countries in the global South will be very fortunate to benefit greatly from such technology transfer and investment.

The process of attending the Boao Forum for Asia in the past few times has allowed me to witness the tremendous changes that China has undergone in terms of environmental protection and sustainable concepts. "Brigitte M ü ller, the representative of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, who has participated in the Boao Forum for Asia for the third time, said in an interview with the Global Times that she highly recognizes the importance of connectivity in the report." The trade structure between China and Europe has undergone a complete transformation. We now purchase not only consumer goods from China, but also an increasing number of mechanical equipment and high-tech equipment. "M ü ller said that the world is in a challenging period, with various crises such as tariff disputes and logistics disruptions emerging one after another. In this context, we must aim for a win-win situation. The world is already closely interconnected, and we cannot do without each other's cooperation

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Chairman of Kaiteng Holdings, Huang Gencheng, told Global Times reporters that the current global multilateral trading system is facing severe challenges, and regional cooperation is playing an increasingly important role in Asia. The cooperation mechanism of ASEAN has made positive progress in 2025, the ASEAN Goods Trade Agreement continues to advance, and the upgrade of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 version has been achieved. ASEAN has demonstrated unity and commitment in the uncertain global economic environment, becoming an important cornerstone of regional stability. Through these cooperation mechanisms, Asia is building a more resilient trade architecture, providing a realistic path to address the challenges of the 'post tariff era'.