The year 2021 saw the world economy largely bounce back to its pre-pandemic levels, but the recovery pace may decelerate this year. COVID-19 resurgences, the Russia-Ukraine conflict and hiking global inflation all weigh on the global outlook for 2022.
There is positive movement in regional integration, while Asia remains the key driver of global growth, accounting for over 47 percent of the world's GDP at purchasing power parity. According to the Asian Development Bank, intraregional trade in the Asia-Pacific amounted to 58.5 percent of total re-gional trade—a record high since 1990.
Regional integration has been a theme of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA). During the process of soliciting opinions on the theme for this year's annual conference, all stakeholders called for unity and trust, keeping their eye on deeper cooperation and continu-ous progress.