China's role critical
This year's conference is notably eye-catching is also because the world are looking to more answers given by China to the crisis. Although China has stressed that the world should reassess its power before naming it a savior, many countries pin hopes on the recovery of the world's third largest economy.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Saturday. His remarks will be much anticipated after a series of economic data indicated positive changes in the Chinese economy.
Premier Wen said at a Cabinet executive meeting on Thursday that the government's stimulus moves had begun to produce results and the economy was in "better-than-expected" shape, although the growth domestic production grew just 6.1 percent in the first quarter, the slowest pace in a decade.
The premier cited pick-ups in investment, consumption and industrial output, ample liquidity in the banking system, and improved market expectations as signs of those "positive changes."
"However, we must also be clear-headed and understand that grounds for the country's economic recovery are not solid enough yet, as circumstances both at home and abroad remain grim," Wen warned.
In such a context, the presence of major Chinese officials including central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, commerce minister Chen Deming, and banking regulator Liu Mingkang at this year's BFA meeting deserves great attention, as people expect to read more between the lines to better track the economic outlook.
