Call for more regional cooperation amid Trump's trade war at forum in China

Some at Boao conference highlight need to consider trade regulation with weaker WTO

- Joyce ZK Lim

BOAO, Hainan - The rapidly mounting tariff onslaught that threatens to hold back global economic growth has hovered in the background of an international conference that China is hosting this week.

At the Boao Forum for Asia - an annual gathering of government officials, academics and business leaders that discusses economic cooperation in China's Hainan province, panellists spoke of pushing back against a rising tide of protectionism by strengthening regional collaboration.

The refrain comes as the US ratchets up tariffs on multiple partners - with a new and broader tranche expected next week - and countries retaliate with barriers of their own.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in March projected, in its interim economic outlook report, that growth worldwide would slow amid the imposition of new bilateral tariffs and their attendant drag on trade and investment.

The OECD revised downwards its global growth estimates for 2025 and 2026, to 3.1 per cent and 3 per cent respectively, from the earlier forecast of 3.3 per cent in both years.

At the Boao forum from March 25 to 28, former Chinese trade official Long Yongtu said at a panel discussion on free trade ports that he was pessimistic about the outlook for free trade globally.