A journalist walks into the media center at the town of Boao in Qionghai city, south China's Hainan province, March 25, 2019. (YANG GUANYU / XINHUA)

The Boao Forum for Asia has decided not to hold its annual conference in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, forum organizers said in a statement on Thursday.

"The raging COVID-19 pandemic across the world is threatening human health and the global economy. In response to international efforts to contain the disease and prioritizing the health and safety of all participants, the forum's board of directors made the difficult decision of not holding this year's annual conference," reads the statement.

The forum will still continue with the preparations for three major thematic conferences scheduled in the later half of the year, including the first conference of the International Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation on Nov 9 in Macao; the first Global Economic Development and Security Forum in September in Zhuhai; and the second Conference of Global Health Forum in October in Qingdao.

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The Boao annual conference was originally scheduled from March 24 to 27 in Boao, a coastal town in China's southern island province of Hainan, with a theme of "A world in change: Bond together for a shared future." 

Founded in 2001, the Boao Forum for Asia is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals. 

With Xinhua inputs