China kicks off Boao Forum for Asia, seeking to reconnect with a business world that is looking elsewhere

Supply chains have come under unprecedented stress during the pandemic and amid geopolitical wrangling, forcing both Chinese and foreign firms to come up with ‘a plan B’

Boao Forum for Asia is China’s answer to the World Economic Forum in Davos and comes as the country is ramping up efforts to charm foreign investors

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Staff prepare for the Boao Forum for Asia, which runs until Friday in China’s tropical Hainan province. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:30pm, 28 Mar 2023Updated: 4:56pm, 29 Mar 2023

In the face of US decoupling and tense geopolitical complications, Chinese and multinational companies need to make contingency plans for their production in the world’s second-largest economy, according to business executives.

But even as that occurs, they say, China will continue to remain a global manufacturing hub.

The remarks came at the Boao Forum for Asia that began on Tuesday in South China’s tropical Hainan province.

Billed as China’s answer to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the economic conference in Boao serves as a major platform to reconnect with the business world after three years of isolation under a restrictive zero-Covid policy that caused many companies to diversify their supply chains outside of the country.

The shifting of supply chains is not being driven by the natural market economy, but rather manipulated by politics

George Zhu, Vital Thin Film Materials

Also in mind at this year’s gathering are external headwinds, a murky trade outlook at Washington’s stepped-up efforts to contain China technologically.