This photo taken on March 27, 2023 shows a fountain square in front of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) International Conference Center in Boao, south China's Hainan Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Some 2,000 participants will attend the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA)'s annual conference, scheduled for March 28 to 31 in Boao, a coastal town in China's island province of Hainan, BFA Secretary General Li Baodong said on Tuesday.

Marking the first entirely offline annual conference of BFA since the COVID-19 outbreak, this year's conference draws about 2,000 delegates from over 50 countries and regions and more than 1,100 journalists from over 170 media organizations from about 40 countries and regions.

Themed "An Uncertain World: Solidarity and Cooperation for Development amid Challenges," the event will center around four main topics, namely "Development and Inclusiveness," "Efficiency and Security," "Regional and Global," and "The Present and the Future."

"We hope to explore certainty in an uncertain world and promote solidarity and cooperation among countries to better meet challenges through discussions at the annual conference. We also aim to uphold openness and inclusiveness to better promote development," said Li at the first press conference for the event on Tuesday.

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.