A new era of all together, nobody first

The Boao Forum for Asia, held every spring in South China's Hainan province, has become known to many as "the Davos of the East". However, as an annual economic conclave, the Boao Forum represents a set of ideas very different from those economic forums where Western business and political interests dominate and set the rules for globalization that is synonymous with Americanization, or promote a set of ideas associated with the "Washington Consensus", which Europe has felt obliged to buy into as a matter of long-held North Atlantic interests.

Established as a multilateral convening of business interests focused on the Asian community, the Boao Forum for Asia has been opening its doors to participants who have business or trade interests with Asia.

When President Xi Jinping addressed the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia on Tuesday, he presented a fresh image of China in the new era. "In this complex and changing world, where are we headed and where is the future of Asia?" he asked.