CGTN publishes an article on the achievements and prospects of China's cooperation with its neighbors. Introducing China's efforts to build a community with a shared future with its neighboring countries, the article highlights how China fosters an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood in line with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness.
BEIJING, April 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the bustling city of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, a train loaded with fresh Thai fruits – durian, rambutan and mangoes – smoothly rolls out, beginning a journey that will culminate in the fruits' distribution across the vast Chinese market. This shipment represents more than just the transportation of goods – it's a testament to the growing significance of the China-Laos Railway.
By linking China with Laos, Thailand and other ASEAN countries, the railway has become a bridge for regional trade, significantly boosting cross-border commerce. As of the end of last year, the total cargo throughput of the railway has exceeded 50 million tonnes, including 11.58 million tonnes of cross-border goods, since its launch on December 3, 2021.
The railway vividly illustrates China's long-standing principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, as well as its fostering of good neighborliness and friendship.
At the central conference on work related to neighboring countries, which was held in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated China's commitments to building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries.
A statement released after the meeting highlighted that China regards neighborhood as a vital foundation for national development and prosperity, a key front for safeguarding national security and a priority area in the country's overall diplomacy.
Amicable, secure and prosperous
The meeting stressed China will remain committed to fostering an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood in line with the principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, a philosophy put forward by Xi in 2013 in promoting the country's neighborhood diplomacy.
Speaking at 2014's Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs, the Chinese president further elaborated the idea, saying China will foster friendship and partnership with neighboring countries, build an amicable, peaceful and prosperous neighborhood, and enhance mutually beneficial cooperation and interconnectivity.
Zhou Fangyin, a professor of international relations at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said that the consistency and stability of China's neighborhood diplomacy have become a prominent factor of certainty in the region against the backdrop of the turbulent international landscape.
Over the past decade, China has established diverse and substantive partnerships, cooperative relations and strategic relations of mutual benefit with 28 neighboring countries and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Thus, China has resolved historical boundary issues with 12 neighbors on land through negotiations and signed the treaties of good neighborliness and friendly cooperation with nine neighboring countries.
Critical phase
China's relations with its neighboring countries are currently at their best in modern times and are also entering a critical phase where regional dynamics and global transformations are deeply intertwined, the conference noted.
It called for taking into account both the domestic and international situations and coordinating the two major priorities of development and security.
The Chinese side vowed to work with its neighbors to consolidate strategic mutual trust, support regional countries in pursuing development paths suited to their respective conditions and properly manage differences.
Liu Qing, vice president of the China Institute of International Studies, pointed out that with the world entering a new period of turbulence and change, China's domestic environment is increasingly intertwined with its surrounding environment more than ever before.
Through building a community with a shared future with its neighbors, China is strengthening economic, cultural, and ecological integration and cooperation with the neighbors, which are in line with the trend of the times, Liu added.
China has reached common understandings on building a community with a shared future with 17 neighboring countries, signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements with 25 neighboring countries, worked to synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with the cooperation plans of ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union, and remained the largest trading partner of its 18 neighbors.
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