Compass for diplomacy

Good relations with neighboring countries underlies the efforts to realize a sound environment for common prosperity

President Xi Jinping's speech on the necessity of good diplomacy to realize a sound regional environment provides an important compass for the country to navigate the trend of the times and consolidate its friendly relations with neighboring countries.

President Xi Jinping and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono exchange greetings as they join other APEC leaders for a group photo in Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Dennis Sabangan / Agence France-Presse

The speech, delivered at a conference on diplomatic work held in Beijing on Thursday and Friday, embodied a vibrant new vision for China's diplomacy with its neighbors and reaffirmed establishing friendships and partnerships with neighboring countries is the strategic choice of the country's new leadership.

Xi stressed that good regional diplomacy is essential for the country to achieve national rejuvenation and the realization of the "centenary goals" set by the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012: a moderately prosperous society by 2020 and a prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and modern socialist country by 2049.

He emphasized the strategic importance of building good-neighborly relations to the country's overall development strategy and said previous generations of leaders had already laid the foundation for regional stability. He stressed that the basic tenet of China's diplomacy with its neighbors is to treat them as friends and partners, to make them feel safe and to help them develop.

"We must strive to make our neighbors more friendly in politics, economically more closely tied to us, and we must have deeper security cooperation and closer people-to-people ties," he said.

It is beyond doubt that the vision he presented of a Pacific region big enough for all countries to develop together and his call for greater regional cooperation and integration will have a positive influence on the region and hasten the establishment of a Silk Road economic belt and a maritime Silk Road for the 21st century.

China's economic and trade links with its neighbors have never before been so interconnected, and the number of people-to-people exchanges between China and its neighbors is unprecedented; but the region is brimming with further vitality and opportunities for development that require greater cooperation. Therefore, the more active diplomatic blueprint to consolidate friendship that Xi presented is a win-win strategy for China and its neighbors.