Has China’s answer to Davos lost its shine with high-profile absences and a TV blackout?
- President Xi Jinping is in Europe, while other key officials are in Beijing for the trade talks with the US
- Various discussions have been switched to closed-door events without explanation, with fewer high profile speakers taking the stage
As tensions between China and the United States run high, the Boao Forum for Asia, a confab billed as China’s answer to the World Economic Forum in Davos, has lost its sheen.
Established in 2002, the Boao Forum, named after its host resort on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, was China’s attempt to show itself as a benign emerging power by honing Asian responses to a globalised world.
In that respect, the Boao Forum has been compared to the annual power gathering in the Alpine town of Davos, Switzerland, which has become the flagship event for world leaders, entrepreneurs and influencers, synonymous with global elites.
But this year, President Xi Jinping is in Europe, while other key officials are in Beijing for the trade talks with the US. To compound matters, various discussions have been switched to closed-door events without explanation and with little notice.
