Milestone year for China's diplomacy

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech for the opening day of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, near Paris, France, November 30, 2015.[Photo/Xinhua]

China's major diplomatic events in 2015, which started with the first ministerial meeting of the Forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in January and ended with the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in December, were milestones in its efforts to shoulder more international responsibilities as the world's second-largest economy and largest developing country.

With greater focus on strategic planning and efforts to bridge the gap between developed and developing economies, China helped reach a historical deal at the UN climate change conference in Paris in December. The Beijing-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which was officially launched on December 25, 2015, six months after the article of agreement was signed by 57 founding members, was China's major attempt to reform global financial governance.

Confronted with the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which 12 countries recently agreed to, as well as Washington's increasingly aggressive interventions in the South China Sea issue, Beijing has responded calmly but firmly, without losing its ground and relinquishing its legitimate interests.

To pursue the Chinese Dream, China aims to create a global community with shared destiny. In this context, its attempts last year to reform international relations bore some results. As President Xi Jinping said during his September visit to the US and at the UN Headquarters in New York, China is more than willing to help inject win-win cooperation into the "new model of major-power relationship" with the United States and international relations.

Proactive leadership diplomacy was another highlight of China's strategic role in international relations. The establishment of the AIIB, for example, would not have been so successful without the participation of major European economies like the United Kingdom, which top Chinese leaders visited several times over the past year to convince their counterparts of its mutually beneficial nature.

Xi dedicated almost one-third of his time to the country's diplomatic events last year, including 42 days on foreign visits. Premier Li Keqiang, too, has been tactically efficient in seeking transnational cooperation in the fields of nuclear power and telecommunications, bringing home a host of key business deals, and tapping into overseas markets.