The Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025 was held in Boao, China, from March 25 to 28, 2025. Dr. Li Haitao, Dean and Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), joined the forum, where shared his views on how businesses should seize opportunities for new growth momentum at the session on “Business Strategies in Response to the Fast-Changing World.”
In his speech, Dean Li underscored that despite rising trade protectionism and other global challenges, China’s long-term economic growth potential remains strong; hence, it is key for Chinese enterprises to truly integrate into the global market with a better strategy, so as to leverage their domestic advantages in navigating the global market.
He highlighted what makes China’s manufacturing sector unique is that it has achieved industrial upgrading and built a comprehensive industrial system within four decades, when it took developed nations multiple industrial revolutions to accomplish that. China has a complete industrial chain spanning traditional industries, such as steel and coal production, to cutting-edge sectors like new energy vehicles (NEVs) and AI. More importantly, China has demonstrated its ability to scale up innovations from “zero to one”, especially in technological advancements.
However, Dean Li also pointed out several structural challenges facing China’s economy, including supply-demand imbalances in its domestic manufacturing and consumption, excessive reliance on exports, and the impact of U.S. tariffs on the stability of the global supply chain of which China is a key part.
“To navigate these challenges, Chinese enterprises must have a ‘moonshot perspective’—looking at the world from a broader, global vantage point. Rather than merely expanding their production capacity overseas, companies should integrate global resources, supporting the development of local markets and helping them to blend into local communities. Only with this approach will Chinese firms navigate both the domestic and international markets for sustainable global success,” Dean Li emphasized. “If Chinese enterprises would like to become global brands, they have to work on their competitiveness and devise different strategies for different markets with a global view, before they can secure a strong foothold on the restructuring global value chains.”
Dean Li was joined by Cai Wei, Head of KPMG’s Economic Research Institute, who moderated the session, as well as an esteemed lineup of business leaders and experts, including Wang Wei, Executive President of Yili Group, Xu Lirong, Chairman of the China Shipowners Mutual Assurance Association, Denis Depoux, Co-President of Global Management Committee at Roland Berger, Chen Tao, President of CLP Holdings China, Gao Haichun, Co-Chairman of Trina Solar and CKGSB alumnus, Zhai Jingli, Vice President of Asia Pulp & Paper China, Ziga Vavpotic, Chairman of the Slovenian-Chinese Business Council, Anne-Laure Kiechel, Founder & CEO of Global Sovereign Advisory, Gianni Di Giovanni, Chairman of Eni China and Executive Vice President of Eni Group, and Liu Qiao, Dean of Guanghua School of Management at Peking University.
The Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025, themed “Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future,” brought together over 1,500 senior leaders from nearly 70 countries and regions, including policymakers, business executives, entrepreneurs, innovators, and thought leaders. The forum mainly explored four topics, namely “The Bigger Picture：Building Trust and Promoting Cooperation in a Fast-Changing World,” “Promoting Growth: Re-balancing Globalization for Inclusive Development,” “Shaping the Future: Accelerating the SDGs for More Effective Responses to Global Challenges,” and “Identifying New Drivers: Strengthening AI Application and Governance for Innovation-Driven Development.”
During the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, CKGSB co-hosted an in-depth dialogue named the “2025 Boao CKGSB Night & Ifeng Night,” in partnership with Phoenix Media, on March 26. This exclusive gathering facilitated thought-provoking discussions among global political, business, and academic leaders on the AI revolution and the new global economic landscape,” sparking meaningful exchanges on the future of business and technology.
