Opportunities & Challenges for World’s Most Populous Country

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Westerners have long been unclear about China, and why Chinese do not appear to lead the kind of lives portrayed in film and television, but rather live the way many others around the world do and face the same challenges.

Today, the challenges are many: from slowing economic growth, to an aging society, food safety and environmental degradation.

But with challenges sometimes come opportunities. GDP growth is not the ultimate goal, as the central government is promoting innovation with science and technology advancement as its core. In many areas, such as quantum communication, supercomputers, aeronautics, high-speed railway and drones, China compares favorably with other developed countries.

Chinese leaders have been bolstering free trade and pledging to open-up to the outside world for greater economic development and trade ties, at a time when protectionist and populist sentiments are on the rise.

The ongoing Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) is currently tackling issues of widespread concern and strengthening the case for more inclusive globalization.

The four-day conference, under the theme of "Globalization and Free Trade: The Asian Perspectives," runs until March 26 in Boao in China's southernmost province of Hainan.

This is what is really happening in China - not a supernatural and mysterious land, but a country of amazing growth and opportunity.