On the morning of April 7, 2013, the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013 opened in Boao, Hainan. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech.

Xi stressed in his speech that common development is the foundation of sustainable development. Countries should foster a sense of community of common destiny, follow the trend of the times, keep to the right direction, stick together in time of difficulty and ensure that development in Asia and the rest of the world reaches new levels.

In this balmy season of April with clear sky and warm, coconut-scented breeze, guests gathered in the main venue of the Boao International Convention Center. At 10 AM, the political leaders and dignitaries walked into the conference hall including President Xi Jinping, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, President U Thein Sein of Myanmar, President Ollanta Humala of Peru, President Michael Chilufya Sata of Zambia, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland, President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia, Speaker of the Council of the Nation Abdelkader Bensalah of Algeria, Chairman of State Great Hural of Mongolia Zandaakhuu Enkhbold, President Vuk Jeremić of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. They were greeted with a standing ovation.

In the warm applause, President Xi walked onto the podium and delivered a keynote speech titled "Working Together Toward a Better Future for Asia and the World".

President Xi welcomed the guests and congratulated on the opening of the annual conference on behalf of the Chinese government and people.

Xi pointed out that the world today is undergoing profound and complex changes. The trend of the times, namely, peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, is gaining momentum. The world is far from peaceful. Development remains a major challenge; the global economy has entered a period of profound readjustment; achieving common development for all countries remains an uphill battle.

Xi stressed that Asia is one of the most dynamic and most promising regions in the world; Asia has emerged as an important engine driving world economic recovery and growth; in recent years, Asia has contributed to over 50% of global growth. However countries should also be keenly aware that Asia still faces many difficulties and challenges. Asia needs to transform and upgrade its development model in keeping with the trend of the times. Sustaining development is still of paramount importance to Asia. Asia needs to make concerted efforts to resolve major difficulties to ensure stability in Asia. The Asian countries need to increase mutual trust and work together to ensure durable peace and stability in the region. Asia needs to build on its past success and make new progress in promoting cooperation in Asia. What Asia needs to do is to enhance mutual understanding, build consensus, and enrich and deepen cooperation so as to strike a balance among the interests of various parties and build mechanisms that bring benefits to all.

Xi said that mankind has only one earth, and it is home to all countries. Countries should foster a sense of community of common destiny to advance the development in Asia and the rest of the world.

First, countries should boldly break new ground so as to create an inexhaustible source of power for boosting common development. Nothing in the world remains constant. Countries should abandon the outdated mindset, break away from the old confines that fetter development and unleash all the potential for development. Countries should redouble efforts to shift the growth model and adjust the economic structure and make life better for the people. Countries should steadily advance the reform of the international economic and financial systems and improve global governance mechanisms. Asia should ride on the waves of the times.

Second, countries should work together to uphold peace so as to provide security safeguard for boosting common development. Peace is the ever-lasting wish of the people. Peace, like air and sunshine, is hardly noticed when people are benefiting from it. But none of us can live without it. Without peace, development is out of the question. Countries, whether big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, should all contribute their share to maintaining and enhancing peace. Rather than undercutting each other's efforts, countries should complement each other and work for joint progress. The international community should advocate the vision of comprehensive security, common security and cooperative security so as to turn the global village into a big stage for common development, rather than an arena where gladiators fight each other. No one should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gains.

Third, countries should boost cooperation as an effective vehicle for enhancing common development. As it is often said in China, a single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden. All countries in the world are closely linked and share converging interests. They should both pool and share their strengths. While pursuing its own interests, a country should accommodate the legitimate concerns of others. In pursuing their own development, countries should promote the common development of all. Countries should enhance South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue and promote balanced development of the developing and developed countries.

Fourth, countries should remain open and inclusive so as to create broad space for enhancing common development. A country should respect the right of another country to independently choose its social system and development path. Countries should remove distrust and misgivings and turn the diversity of the world and the difference among countries into dynamism and driving force for development. Countries should keep an open mind and promote regional cooperation. Cooperation in Asia is open and Asia should welcome non-Asian countries to play a constructive role in ensuring stability and development of the region. Likewise, the non-Asian countries should respect Asia's diversity and its long-standing tradition of cooperation. This will create a dynamic environment in which Asia and other regions enjoy mutually reinforcing progress.

President Xi pointed out that China cannot develop itself in isolation from the rest of Asia and the world. On their part, the rest of Asia and the world cannot enjoy prosperity and stability without China. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has drawn up a blueprint for China's development in the years to come. Looking ahead, the Chinese people are full of confidence in China's future. The Chinese people are aware that China remains the world's largest developing country, and it faces many difficulties and challenges on its road to progress. China is unwaveringly committed to reform and opening up. China will concentrate on the major task of shifting the growth model, focus on running its own affairs well, and make continued efforts to boost the socialist modernization drive.

Xi stressed that as a Chinese saying goes, "Neighbors wish each other well, just as loved ones do to each other". China will continue to promote friendship and partnership with its neighbors, and ensure that China's development will bring even greater benefits to its neighbors. It is projected that in the coming five years, China's import will reach some 10 trillion U.S. dollars, its outbound investment will reach 500 billion U.S. dollars and the number of its outbound tourists may well exceed 400 million. The more China grows itself, the more development opportunities it will create for the rest of Asia and the world. China is firm in its resolve to uphold peace and stability in Asia and the world. The Chinese people deeply cherish peace. On the basis of firmly upholding its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, China will maintain good relations with its neighbors and the overall peace and stability in the region. China will energetically promote regional cooperation in Asia and around the world. China will take an active part in Asia's regional cooperation process. China will continue to champion and promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. China is committed to narrowing the North-South gap.

Xi concluded by saying that to enhance peaceful development and win-win cooperation in Asia and the world is a race that has one starting point after another and knows no finishing line. China is ready to join hands with friends from across the world in a concerted effort to create a bright future for both Asia and the world and bring benefit to the Asian people and the people around the world.

Foreign dignitaries attending the conference delivered speeches respectively to elaborate their views the current economic situation in Asia and around the world and introduce their development and reform strategies. They highly appreciated the fact that China's development provides a strong impetus and a rare opportunity for regional and global economic growth. They expressed the belief that the Chinese dream of achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will better benefit the Chinese people, Asia and the world at large. Countries wished to strengthen cooperation with China. The Asian leaders said that the Asian countries should go beyond their differences, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation and promote regional integration; the Asian countries should embrace the spirit of openness and tolerance and carry out exchange and cooperation with other regions; the Asian countries should jointly address the risks and challenges, safeguard regional peace and stability, and promote development and prosperity. Leaders of other countries and international organizations were optimistic about the prospects of Asia's development. They expressed the hope to establish closer ties with Asia, learn from each other, and strengthen coordination with Asia; expand mutual trade and investment and carry out win-win cooperation with Asia; strive to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals, boost world economic recovery, and achieve balanced and sustainable development.

Chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia Yasuo Fukuda delivered a welcoming speech at the opening ceremony.

President Xi was accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, and Yang Jiechi.

The Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013 was held from April 6 to 8 with the theme - "Asia Seeking Development for All: Restructuring, Responsibility and Cooperation". There were over 2,500 participants attending the conference including national and regional leaders from five continents, heads of international organizations, political and business leaders, experts and scholars.