Coronavirus: China cancels high-profile Boao Forum annual meeting

‘China’s Davos’ formally cancelled after postponement from March in response to international efforts to contain the disease

Other key events, including National People’s Congress and Canton Export Fair, will go ahead with many proceedings online

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at last year’s Boao Forum. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 4:08pm, 30 Apr 2020Updated: 11:23pm, 30 Apr 2020

China has formally cancelled a high-profile annual conference that brings together Chinese and foreign politicians and business leaders to discuss policies and promote the country’s international image, as a result of the continued global spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, originally scheduled from March 24-27 on China’s southernmost island province of Hainan, was called off, after its initial postponement, its organiser said on Thursday morning.

“The raging Covid-19 pandemic across the world is threatening human health and global economy. In response to international efforts to contain the disease, and prioritising the health and safety of all participants, the forum’s board of directors made the difficult decision to not hold this year’s annual conference,” an online statement read.

Dubbed China’s Davos – after the Swiss Alps resort where the World Economic Forum meets each January – the conference has hosted high ranking officials from China and other countries as well as eminent global business leaders worldwide since its inauguration in 2001.

It has traditionally been held a week after the annual meeting of China’s National People’s Congress session in early March, providing a chance for foreigners to gain a better understanding of Beijing’s just-announced economic policies.

Chinese leaders have also used the event to announce important decisions. For instance, President Xi Jinping announced at the forum in 2018 key measures to open up China’s financial markets, including allowing foreign firms to take control of securities joint ventures for the first time, in the midst of the trade war with the US.

In his keynote speech at last year’s conference, Premier Li Keqiang promised wider market entry and a level playfield for foreign companies. This year’s event was themed “a world in change: bond together for a shared future” and organisers estimated more than 2,000 people would have attended, many of them from overseas.

The conference is the latest event to be cancelled because of the pandemic. The Canton Fair, China’s oldest and largest export fair sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, was delayed until the second half of June and will now be held online.