China has become a major world power: Chinese Foreign Minister
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As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the world’s second largest economy and the biggest foreign exchange reserves, China has made remarkable progress in the past decades for which other countries have fought for hundreds of years, the minister remarked.
China is a developing country that has inherited a tradition of peace from its 5,000 years of history. Therefore, its diplomacy should reflect both its own characteristics and the need of times, Wang noted.
According to Wang, the country will always adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, uphold the principle of win-win cooperation, and actively promote domestic development, while safeguarding the common interests and legitimate rights of the developing countries in the international community.
Speaking of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s thought on diplomacy, Wang noted that the country should stick to the major path of peaceful development and national rejuvenation, establish a new type of international relations centered on win-win cooperation, and create a community of shared future for mankind.
In addition, Wang added that China’s diplomacy also features advancement, creativity, and stability.
When asked about the achievements of the Belt and Road Initiative, Wang responded that China’s total trade volume in Belt and Road countries added up to $3 trillion from 2014 to 2016, with an investment of over $50 billion.
He said that the Belt and Road is a project to connect domestic and international development. Under the agreements with the Belt and Road countries and international organizations, China’s equipment, technology, investment, and standards will be further incorporated into the world, and its domestic development and transition will also embrace broader prospects.
The minister noted that China has established partnerships with about 100 countries, regions, and regional organizations, and these partnerships are different from traditional models of international relations.
According to him, these partnerships stress equality, and respect for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of each party.
They have totally abandoned power politics, injecting new impetus for each country to join international affairs and promote democratic and law-based international relations in an equal manner.
In addition, peacefulness is also a characteristic of these relationships, Wang said. The country is committed to win-win cooperation rather than zero-sum games, focusing on common interests and prosperity.
Lastly, these partnerships feature inclusiveness, going beyond the differences of social systems and ideologies. They seek common interests and avoid mutual exclusion brought by bloc politics.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held five years ago, China’s diplomacy has achieved fruitful results in serving both national development and the people, he pointed out.
Wang continued that a batch of major cooperation projects of strategic importance have been facilitated under the efforts of the Foreign Ministry and over 200 of its embassies and consulates, and some major projects which had encountered obstacles have now been reinitiated.
In addition, China has always placed great importance on the safety of its overseas citizens, Wang said, adding that the consular protection ability of the country has been continuously improved, in a bid to better serve overseas Chinese.
China has evacuated its overseas citizens nine times in five years and dealt with nearly 300,000 cases of consular protection, including more than 100 major cases of kidnapping and attacks, the minister illustrated.
