BOAO, Hainan, March 25 (Xinhua) — Despite increasing global economic uncertainty, Asia has remained a key growth engine for global economy, according to a report released at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) on Tuesday.
The weighted real GDP growth rate of Asia is projected to reach 4.5 percent in 2025, an increase from 4.4 percent in 2024, according to the annual report titled “Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress.”
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, BFA Secretary General Zhang Jun said that the region is nurturing new potential and opportunities and has become an important force and cornerstone stabilizing and underpinning the global economy.
Asian economies, particularly China and the ASEAN, continue to demonstrate strong resilience despite numerous challenges, leading the world in areas including economic growth, trade in goods and services, and regional integration, Zhang said.
Asia’s economic performance last year beat the projections made by institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations, said Zhang Yuyan, a professor on international politics and economics with the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.
Themed “Asia in the Changing World: Towards a Shared Future,” this year’s forum bears great practical and long-term significance as global development is clouded with increased uncertainties due to rising unilateralism, trade protectionism and geopolitical tensions, according to analysts.
At purchasing power parity, the ratio of Asia’s GDP among the global total will rise to 48.6 percent in 2025, up from 48.1 percent in 2024, the report estimated.
It noted that global foreign investments have increased their reliance on Asian economies amid fluctuations, and China and the ASEAN are the most appealing economies in Asia.
As the world’s most economically dynamic region, Asia has become an increasingly vital player in global cross-border direct investment, with the inward and outward foreign direct investment dependence of Asian economies on the region itself reaching 49.15 percent in 2023, according to the report.
It also noted that China continues to be the center of global manufacturing value chains.
Since 2017, global trade in intermediate goods has been more reliant on China than on North America. Global dependence on China for intermediate goods stood at 16 percent in 2023, compared with 15 percent for North America.
The trade frictions initiated by the United States in 2018 have not strengthened its position in the global manufacturing value chains, the report noted.
China and Asia have become the center of free trade, said Temir Porras, managing director of Global Sovereign Advisory, stressing that it is always positive to see that China is committed to promoting free trade and sharing development opportunities with the world.
As a major achievement of Asian economic integration, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has injected new vitality into the member economies, bringing certainty into the uncertain global economy and trade landscape, the report said.
In 2024, the total trade value within the region rose about 3 percent from a year ago, with trade among most member economies achieving year-on-year growth, data showed.
A report on Asia’s sustainable development was also unveiled on Tuesday, highlighting the region’s rapid progress in emerging green technologies, positioning it as a potential leader in advanced battery materials and biodegradable plastics, among others.
China now sources 85 percent of its new energy capacity from renewables, while Indonesia and Singapore are leading efforts in carbon capture and storage, according to this report. ■
