The Boao Forum for Asia annual conference 2004 starts here at 9:10 a.m. Saturday. Chinese President Hu Jintao will deliver a keynote speech at the opening session, after speeches by Chairman of BFA Board of Directors Fidel V. Ramos and some other business leaders.

The opening ceremony is expected to last about 50 minutes.

Over 1,000 senior politicians, scholars and business people from Asia and the other parts of the world attended the meeting in Boao, a small scenic town in China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2004)