Xi's trip to central, south Asia opens new chapter for China's neighborhood diplomacy: FM

Chinese President Xi Jinping returned to Beijing on Friday night after a trip to central and south Asia. [Special coverage]

Xi's state visits to Tajikistan, the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India, and his attendance at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe, opened a new chapter for China's neighborhood diplomacy that features amity and cooperation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters upon the end of the trip.

The Sept. 11-19 tour also charted a fresh course for the "One Belt and One Road" initiatives (the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road), he said.

All the four nations are pivot points of the "One Belt and One Road" with which China has historic ties and interwoven contemporary interests, and all of them hope to ride on the fast train of China's development to fulfill their own dreams, Wang said.

Xi's trip to central and south Asia was aimed at bringing together the aspirations of countries in the region with the "One Belt and One Road" initiatives to pursue common prosperity and security, he added.

During the tour which spanned 9 days and included more than 70 events, Xi has conducted in-depth exchanges of opinions with national leaders and reached out to the general public of those countries.

The Chinese president also expounded China's policy, proposed new initiatives and witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements on a number of major projects.

The trip also made headlines in the world's leading news outlets, which agreed that it was an important visit with far-reaching influence for guiding the SCO's development and improving China's relations with the four nations and South Asia, according to Wang.

BOOSTING SCO COOPERATION WITH TWIN ENGINES OF SECURITY, ECONOMY

Facing the spillover effect of the Afghan issue and the rising threats of religious extremism and terrorism, it was a common wish for SCO member states and regional countries to jointly tackle the challenges and boost cooperation, Wang said.

Founded in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

At the SCO's Dushanbe summit, President Xi put forward new proposals to further develop the bloc under the new situation, which is the central theme of the gathering.

The SCO members, he suggested, should focus on combating religion-involved extremism and cyber-terrorism, continue to boost cooperation on law enforcement and security, and jointly crack down on the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism.

Xi also suggested that the SCO member states adhere to the goal of common development and prosperity, while calling for more extensive and higher-level cooperation in trade and investment.

Moreover, he said SCO members need to comprehensively promote people-to-people exchanges, while urging the SCO to expand external exchanges and cooperation.

In addition, Xi said all member countries, observers and dialogue partners are welcome to vigorously participate in the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and promote regional connectivity.

Xi's proposals are based on a careful study of global and regional situation, and are both future-oriented and pragmatic, Wang said.

Summit participants warmed up to those ideas and incorporated them into the final documents of the meeting, he said.

In a joint declaration, the six SCO members pledged further concerted efforts to fight the "three evil forces", with the current focus on religious extremism and internet terrorism.

They also pledged to actively join the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt, conduct study on the feasibility of an SCO development fund and an SCO development bank, and coordinate closer on regional hotspot issues like Afghanistan.

One of the major outcomes of the summit is the ratification of two documents that define the basic principles of membership enlargement, which demonstrated the bloc's openness, inclusiveness and appeal as well as its growing global clouts, Wang said.

Ahead of the summit, President Xi also held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and both sides decided to complement each other's advantages and boost cooperation on financial sector and major projects.

They also vowed to speed up the construction of the China-Russia west route natural gas pipeline and enhance coordination on major global issues.