At the heart of the Annual Boao Forum for Asia Conference, one session stood out as both timely and critical, it was the one on the Global Free Trade Port Development Forum.

In a world increasingly marked by trade restrictions and economic uncertainty, the gathering served as a powerful reminder of the necessity of free trade in the world.

The forum brought together global leaders, policymakers, and industry experts to explore the future of trade in a deeply interconnected world.

Chairman of Boao Forum for Asia and the 8th Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon says that Hainan is now home to the world’s largest free trade port.

He says that the islands rapid transformation from a tropical province into a dynamic economic zone symbolizes what open economies can achieve.

“Trade has long proven its power to expand opportunity and reduce poverty. It’s not perfect, but it works and if we can remove the remaining barriers, we’ll unlock a stronger, more sustainable global recovery.”

Ban says that the benefits of trade are hard to ignore because from 1995 to 2023, per capita income nearly tripled in low and middle-income countries, outpacing the global average increase of 65 percent.

He adds that extreme poverty in those nations dropped from 40 percent to just 11 percent, and one-third of that progress is directly linked to trade openness.

The BFA Chair also says that contrary to rising protectionist narratives, trade has actually helped close the income gap between rich and poor nations for the first time since the Industrial Revolution.

However, he adds that those gains are under threat.
According to World Trade Organisation data, as of October 2024, trade restrictions affected nearly 12 percent of global imports and over three percent of exports, with no signs of a global rollback.

The former UN Secretary General says that the rise of unilateralism, shifting political leaderships, and economic nationalism have all contributed to a fragile trading environment heading into 2025.

Yet, amid these headwinds, Ban Ki-moon says that Free Trade Ports like those in Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong, stand as proof of what can be achieved through openness and innovation. Asia continues to lead in this space, and Hainan is quickly emerging as a new benchmark.

This report was compiled by FBC multimedia journalist Nikhil Kumar, who is part of the China International Press Communication Center Program for 2025 (CIPCC), under the Asia-Pacific Center.

Through the program, some 50 journalists from all over the world are in China to better understand how Chinese legislation works.

Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.