China goes on diplomatic offense with leaders' visits

During a meeting between Li and Singh, an agreement on border defense cooperation was reached, making a major step forward for resolving the remaining border issue between China and India.

China-India border issue got a lot of media attention in April. Indian officials at the time claimed that Chinese soldiers refused to move back over the "Line of Actual Control", which divides India and China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry responded that Chinese troops had been carrying out normal patrols and had not crossed the border.

The two countries also pledged to enhance cooperation with India on infrastructure construction, including railways, to push forward the development of the BCIM Economic Corridor, involving Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.

On Friday, China and Mongolia signed a document that outlines key areas of cooperation for the development of their strategic partnership in the medium and long term. It elaborated on major projects in coal mining, railway construction and civil aviation, with legal and financial assistance to ensure progress.

Referring to the overlapping visits, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that the complete success of these visits has further advanced China's relationship with the three nations.

Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, agreed. "Good relations with neighboring countries play a very important role for China's diplomacy because China's dynamic development needs regional peace and stability," Wu said.

At a conference in the capital on diplomatic work on Friday, Xi stressed the necessity of good diplomatic work in neighboring countries to realize the "centenary goals" set by the 18th CPC National Congress.

The US, with its Asia-Pacific "rebalancing" strategy, increased its involvement in Asia-Pacific affairs as well as its military presence in the region, which put great pressure on China and triggered some problems in the area.

China's relations with its neighbors are now more important, as they reduce the negative influence that the US has brought to the region, said Shi Yinhong, a professor on international relations with the Remin University.

However, despite differences with China, its neighbors depend more on it for their own economic development, so they also showed a desire to improve relations with China, Shi said.