The annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which will be held in Boao, a scenic town in southernmost China's Hainan Province, is ready, the BFA secretariat said on Monday.?

 

The two-day meeting, themed as "A Win-Win Asia: Asia That Opens up to the World," will start on April 24 as scheduled.

 

Chinese President Hu Jintao will address the meeting. Leaders or former leaders of other countries, including Cambodia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States, will attend the meeting.

 

Delegates with international institutes, including the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), and over 100 multinationals will also participate in the forum.

 

The annual meeting will discuss traditional issues, such as economic cooperation between Asian partners, and current international focuses, especially the lagging World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda (DDA), said Long Yongtu, BFA secretary-general.

 

The peaceful rise of China is also a topic of the BFA annual meeting, Long said.

 

Experts from world-class research institutes will have in-depth discussions with their Chinese colleagues, Long noted.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2004)