To build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home

Photo shows the Cao Lanh Bridge built by a Chinese company in Vietnam. [Photo by Wu Feng]

How a major country interacts with its neighbors is a key topic in international relations. It reflects the country's worldview, perception of order, and values.

The world today is undergoing accelerated changes unseen in a century and finds itself in a new period of turbulence and transformation. As 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 question arises: How can China strengthen these ties and shape a more stable regional future by improving its neighborhood diplomacy?

The recent central conference on work related to neighboring countries offered a clear direction and roadmap.

At the conference, China stressed the importance to build a community with a shared future with neighboring countries, build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, and foster an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood in line with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness as well as a shared future for humanity. It emphasized the need to uphold the Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, use high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as the main platform, and pursue the Asian security model that features sharing weal and woe, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and prioritizing dialogue and consultation.

Two students from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia work on their studies. [Photo by Huan Xiang/People's Daily]

It underscored China's firm commitment to remaining deeply rooted in its neighborhood, contributing to its development, and working with neighboring countries to build a community with a shared future.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia gave a strong boost to the country's relations with these countries. Xi viewed neighboring countries through a global perspective, injecting new momentum for peace and development in the region and the world at large. His visits vividly illustrate the core principles set out at the central conference on work related to neighboring countries, representing an innovative and concrete step toward building a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home.

A peaceful home is the bedrock of regional security and stability. The people of Asia, having experienced colonization, war and invasion, deeply cherish peace. From the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, to the Global Security Initiative, China's ideas and proposals respond to the trend of the times and align with the region's expectations for greater security cooperation.

China remains committed to peaceful development, advocates peaceful coexistence and harmony among nations, and upholds the bottom line of peace and stability. It respects the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and stands firmly with neighboring countries against threats to peace.

A safe and secure home is essential to achieving lasting peace and stability. At the central conference on work related to neighboring countries, China for the first time proposed the Asian security model that features sharing weal and woe, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and prioritizing dialogue and consultation.

Drawing from its own experience in working with neighboring countries to uphold security, China's approach brings fresh substance to the concept of Asian security and provides an innovative path toward the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security in Asia.

China has fully and effectively implemented the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and actively advanced the consultation on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. By properly managing sensitive issues in relations with neighboring countries and addressing regional hotspots, the country has taken concrete steps to maintain regional peace and stability.

The team leader of the third batch of traditional Chinese medicine medical aid team to Cambodia provides free clinic for a local patient. [Photo by Li Huiying]

A prosperous home creates fertile ground to pursue modernization. China is committed to fostering an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood in line with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness.

By expanding high-level opening up and deepening cooperation with its neighbors, China is working to ensure that its own development delivers broader regional benefits. As a key trading partner and a major source of investment for many Asian countries, China is advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and fully implementing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, working to make Asia a vibrant hub of global development.

A beautiful home paves the way for sustainable development. China has hosted events such as the ASEAN-China Dialogue on Climate Change and Environment and ASEAN-China Environmental Cooperation Forum, while cooperating with Central Asian countries on salt-alkali land restoration, water-saving irrigation and dryland agriculture laboratories.

Working together with regional countries, China is committed to pursuing green development, accelerating the transition to low-carbon growth, striving to balance economic progress with emission reductions, and working toward a future where prosperity and environmental protection go hand in hand across Asia.

An amicable home strengthens the bonds between people. On the China-Laos Railway, passengers cross borders with the ease and warmth of visiting family. In Central Asia, over ten Confucius Institutes have turned Chinese language education into a growing bridge between cultures.

Through these regular exchanges and mutual support, China and its neighbors have built deep friendships and co-created a shared home. These people-to-people connections breathe life into the Global Civilizations Initiative and help promote humanity's shared values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom - laying a strong foundation for mutual understanding and long-lasting friendship.

Guided by the shared vision of building a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, China will continue walking on the path of good-neighborly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation. It will work closely with neighboring countries to build a community with a shared future.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of Qiushi Journal.