The Global Free Trade Ports Development Forum, an event centered on Hainan held within the framework of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2026, was held in Boao, Hainan, on March 24. Nearly 400 guests from over 20 countries and regions participated, including government officials, representatives of international bodies, leading experts and scholars, and senior management of multinational corporations. Also in attendance were delegations of more than ten overseas free trade zones (ports).

Themed “Free Trade Ports: Opportunities and Missions as Gateways for Opening Up,” the forum’s agenda focused on the evolution of the global geopolitical landscape and trends in high-level opening up. It sought to elucidate the meaning of opening up and the functional positioning of free trade ports, analyze avenues and challenges in cooperation amidst the current complex geopolitical climate, and bring into focus how free trade ports globally can coordinate and complement each other’s strengths in the economy and trade.