Boao Forum 2014 to be held in April

The Boao Forum for the Asia Annual Conference 2014 will be held from April 8 to 11, with a theme of "Asia's New Future: Identifying New Growth Drivers", the forum's secretary-general Zhou Wenzhong said on Wednesday.

The opening ceremony is scheduled for April 10, and the secretariat has extended an invitation to Chinese leaders, and will also invite a number of foreign leaders, Zhou said at a news conference in Beijing.

Speaking of the theme, Zhou said the fast growth of Asian countries and emerging economies in past years is largely attributed to globalization and industrial relocation. As the prospects of a global economic recovery remains obscure, emerging markets and most Asian economies are losing steam in their respective economic growth, and the institutional dividends of reform are disappearing.

Therefore, these countries now need structural reform in order to identify new drivers for growth, as this is the only way to ensure a sustainable future for economic growth, he said.

According to Zhou, this year's conference will include 60 panel discussions, with a focus on reform, innovation and sustainable development.

Discussions on reform will include topics such as global financial reform, reshaping the energy landscape, reform in some of the main economic bodies, reviving the competitiveness of emerging markets, the future of central banks, deregulation and the opportunities for private enterprises, he said.

The Boao Forum for Asia was launched in 2001 as a platform for high-level leaders from government, business and academia to discuss pressing global and regional issues. The coastal town of Boao in South China's Hainan province is the host of the forum.