Russia’s participation at Boao Forum for Asia brings hope for future of free trade - China’s Ministry of Commerce

BEIJING, March 21 /TASS/. The Asian Economic Forum in Boao, with the participation of Russia, brings hope that global principles of free trade will be strengthened in the future amid growing protectionism of specific countries, Gao Feng, spokesman of China’s Ministry of Commerce, told reporters on Thursday. "As protectionist trends are growing in the world the multilateral interaction mechanisms are experiencing great difficulties," he said, answering a question from TASS about the role of the forum in Boao for the global development of free trade. Gao Feng noted that the unilateral actions of specific states that neglect the universal international rules for maintaining trade and economic relations, seriously destabilize the situation in the world, leading to the emergence of many negative trends. "In this situation, all interested parties will show a greater attention to the forum, which will be held this year in Boao," he said. Boao Forum for Asia is annually held in Boao, the Hainan Province, in southern China. This year it will take place on March 26-29. Russia is active participant of the event. According to the forum’s website, special representative of the Russian President for interaction with the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Chairman of Gazprom’s board of directors Viktor Zubkov will be among the guests of the forum. Read more