In 2010, the characteristics of China's ties with its neighbouring countries are good-neighbourliness, mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation.
This year, high-level exchanges between China and its Asian neighbours have remained frequent and dynamic. China had more than 60 high-level visits and exchanges with almost all Asian countries. Centring on 'Friendship Year', China held commemorative activities in various forms with such neighbours as India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar respectively to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations. China and neighbouring countries continue to carry forward the fine tradition of working together to tide over difficulties with neighbour countries, strengthened solidarity and coordination, and actively promoted regional cooperation, thus playing an important role in helping Asia to lead in an economic rebound and promoting the world's economic growth.
In trade, from January to September this year, the trade volume between China and other Asian countries exceeded $640 billion, up 38 per cent year on year. China remains the biggest export market for other Asian countries. China has scaled up assistance to countries in South Asia, like Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. China gave preferential tariff treatment to 70 per cent of imports from Bangladesh and Afghanistan in order to reduce trade imbalances. According to Chinese statistics, from January to September this year, China-ASEAN trade volume reached $211.31 billion, up 43.7 per cent year on year.
In investment, statistics show that in the first quarter of this year, China's non-financial investment in Asian countries grew by 102 per cent year on year, and Asia has now hosted more Chinese-invested enterprises outside China than any other region in the world.
In infrastructure and connectivity, China actively seeks to cooperate with related countries in developing roads, railways, navigation routes and ports in the region.
Besides, China has extended a helping hand to Asian countries hit by natural disasters. The Chinese government provided disaster relief aid to Pakistan worth $250 million when the country was ravaged by a devastating flood rarely seen in history. In recent official visit of Wen Jiabao, the premier of the State Council of China, to Pakistan, China pledged to provide Pakistan with $10 million in cash, a concessional loan of $100 million and professional buyer's credit of $300 million for its post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction. In the wake of the earthquake, tsunami and volcano eruption in Indonesia, China offered $530,000 to Indonesia. China has taken an active part in the post-disaster reconstruction of Pakistan and the post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
As a big country in Asia region, China believes that the old security concept and security logic defined by alignment, strength, deterrence and power should be rejected in the region. A new security concept should be established with mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination at its core, one that recognises, respects and rises above national differences in terms of ideology, values, social system and development stage. China has been doing what it says. It has played an active and constructive role in addressing hotspot issues. And it is dedicated in its effort to seek peaceful resolution of disputes over territory, territorial sea and maritime rights and interests through friendly negotiations.
China advocates an open and inclusive concept on civilisation. It believes that it is important to vigorously facilitate social, cultural and people-to-people exchanges among Asian nations with different cultural background and political systems the basis of fully respecting the cultural tradition, social system and development path of individual countries. This will further enhance understanding, friendship and mutual trust between the peoples of China and its neighbouring countries. And it will consolidate public support for friendly relations between China and its neighbours.
Cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and its neighbouring countries have been most robust in recent years, as evidenced by even broader and more substantive cooperation on a larger scale. Chinese immigration authorities registered in 2009 a total of more than 21 million inbound and outbound visits made by people from Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia alone.
In 2009, more than 160,000 students from other Asian countries came to study in China. Eight of the top 10 home countries of foreign students are China's neighbours. We place great importance on enhanced youth exchanges among Asian countries and have established annual youth exchange mechanisms with Japan, India, Vietnam, Mongolia and Pakistan.
China has set up more than 100 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Asia and has set up Chinese Culture Centres in the Republic of Korea, Japan and Mongolia. China values media exchanges and cooperation with other Asian countries. Press ministers conference and high-level forum on broadcasting and television have been held on a regular basis. We encourage exchanges and visits between media organisations of China and other Asian nations to increase media coverage about each other.
Major global issues such as reform of the international system, climate change, energy and food security and sustainable development have been put under the spotlight. Bilateral and multilateral cooperation on such issues, which has been very vibrant, has become a most promising new growth area in international cooperation. As China, India, Indonesia and other emerging developing countries in Asia have a more important role to play, the international community pays closer attention to where Asian nations stand on global issues. China and many Asian countries, especially neighbouring countries, which have similar circumstances and positions and the same fundamental interests, have engaged in multifaceted coordination and cooperation to address global issues together.
China-Bangladesh relationship
CHINA and Bangladesh are close neighbours. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1975, the bilateral relationship has been enjoying a healthy and steady development. With the efforts of two peoples, China-Bangladesh relationship has entered a ripe period.
The year 2010 is a year of good harvest for the China-Bangladesh relationship. Both countries held a series of activities in celebration of the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations and based on that, spared no efforts on the development of bilateral relationship in all fields and obtained plenty of achievements.
The political mutual trust between the two countries has been strengthening. In March and June, Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh and Xi Jinping, vice-president of China, had a very successful exchange of visits to each other's countries. The countries signed four economic and technical cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding and issued joint statement. The two countries decided to establish and develop a closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation from the strategic perspective and on the basis of the principles of longstanding friendship, equality and mutual benefit.
The economic and trade cooperation has been pushed forward with big steps. China provided Bangladesh with a grant of 100 million RMB yuan. Also, China provided Bangladesh $700 million on the projects of fertiliser factory and introduction of 3G technology and expansion of 2.5G network.
From January to October, the total volume of bilateral trade reached $5.4 billion and is expected to exceed $6 billion. Starting from July 1, 4,762 Bangladeshi items exported to China began to enjoy zero tariff treatments. This is improving and will continue to improve the trade imbalance between the two countries.
The cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts have been developing at a fast pace. Various groups of the two countries had exchanges of visits in the fields of culture, arts, media, drama, religion, etc. The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Bangladesh-China People's Friendship Association jointly organised the China-Bangladesh Friendship and Brightness (Ophthalmic) Trip in October. A Chinese medical team visited Bangladesh and provided free medical operations to 100 Bangladesh cataract patients.
At present, China-Bangladesh relationship is facing unprecedented historic opportunities. In the coming year of 2011, we hope the two countries would further implement the joint statement, enrich the contents of closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation and intensify bilateral cooperation in different fields:
(1) Continue to exchange high-level visits and contacts, intensify friendly exchanges between government agencies, parliaments, political parties and non-governmental organisations;
(2) Intensify cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, transportation and infrastructure development;
(3) Further widen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation;
(4) Strengthen exchanges and cooperation to safeguard respective national security and stability and promote peace and stability in the region;
(5) Maintain close coordination and cooperation to uphold the common interests of the two countries as well as that of developing countries in international and regional affairs, such as climate change, energy and food security.
China stands ready to closely work with Bangladesh to achieve respective development goals, upgrade the living standard of the two peoples and enhance the longstanding friendship between the two countries.
Zhang Xianyi is the Chinese ambassador in Bangladesh.
