Past and present: Over two decades of transformation in south China's Boao (3)

The upper section of the combo photo shows the Boao Water Town, while the lower section shows a fishing port in Boao in 1996. (Photo/Meng Zhongde)

The Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022 was opened on April 20 in Boao, a coastal town in China's southernmost province of Hainan.

In 2001, Boao was designated to become the place where the Boao Forum for Asia annual conferences would be held. After more than 20 years of development, the small township has turned into a beautiful place with rows of small Nanyang-style buildings. The roads in Boao are wide and flat, with the modern road network in the locality providing convenience for locals and visitors alike.

Nowadays, Boao is at the vanguard of economic development in Qionghai city, attracting a larger number of key projects compared with other zones in the city, as well as benefiting from the most vibrant and largest volume of tourism activity in the city.