BFA board members hail China's contribution to globalization, multilateralism

BOAO, Hainan - China's success will bring prosperity to Asia and the world, and set an example for other countries, said members of the Board of Directors of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.

The incumbent and incoming members of the BFA Board of Directors, including former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, made positive remarks about Xi's speech at the opening ceremony of the BFA annual conference on Tuesday.

They agreed that Xi's speech injected new, strong impetus into the world economy, and pointed out the right direction for people in the world and the right answer at a critical moment, when globalization and multilateralism are facing challenges.

They said China is committed to the socialist path with Chinese characteristics, reform and opening-up, and sustainable, high-quality and innovative development, which has boosted the world's confidence in China's greater success.

China has become an important driver of global economy, and played an important and constructive role in international affairs such as tackling climate change, they said.

The international community should, like China, follow the path of reform, opening-up and innovation, and not take the road of retrogression characterized by seclusion, rigidness, protectionism and unilateralism, they said. The international community should also work together to build a community with a shared future for Asia and for humanity at large.