Xi's South Pacific tour promotes mutually beneficial, win-win co-op

Chinese President Xi Jinping's just-concluded tour of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji will promote friendly cooperation, common development and prosperity with countries in the South Pacific region and the world at large, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday.[Special coverage]

During the 10-day trip that started on Nov. 14, Xi attended the ninth Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in the Australian port city of Brisbane, paid state visits to the three countries, and held a meeting with leaders of some Pacific island countries that have diplomatic ties with China.

The Chinese president has visited seven cities, conducted over 80 bilateral and multilateral activities, and extensively contacted and exchanged views with nearly 40 heads of state and international organizations, as well as people from all walks of life, Wang said.

He added that domestic and foreign media described Xi's trip, which came in the wake of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Beijing, as a new milestone of the Chinese diplomacy, saying it will have an important, far-reaching influence on the world's development.

GUIDING G20 COOPERATION, BOOSTING GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY

In a speech at the G20 summit, Xi said China will keep the momentum for economic growth and make greater contribution to the global economy.

He urged the world's major economies to jointly promote reforms, implement comprehensive growth strategies, and advance the transition of the world economy from cyclical recovery to sustainable growth.

Noting that the world economy has gradually moved out of the bottom in the past years but the overall recovery remains lackluster, he said the top priority for G20 members now is to coordinate macroeconomic policy, mitigate economic risks, create more jobs, and improve people's livelihood.

He added that the APEC meetings in Beijing have formulated plans for promoting the development of the Asia-Pacific region, and that G20 members have also worked out comprehensive growth strategies.

In order to realize comprehensive growth, he said, G20 members should seek and boost driving forces for sustained growth and open up a new situation that features innovative development, integrated interests and interconnected growth.

China's economic growth serves as a main engine for global economic growth, and China is one of the largest contributors to the G20's comprehensive growth strategies, Xi said.

Thanks to various domestic reforms, the Chinese economy will maintain its momentum for powerful, sustainable and balanced growth, and provide the world with greater demands and more opportunities, he added.

Xi also called on the G20 members to regard themselves as a community of common interests and shared destinies and to turn the bloc into a stabilizer of the world economy, an incubator of global growth and a propeller of global economic governance.

Other leaders attending the G20 summit applauded China's efforts in restructuring its economy and expressed their confidence that the Chinese economy will grow continuously and healthily and make greater contribution to the world economy.

UPGRADING RELATIONS WITH AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND

During his state visits to Australia and New Zealand, Xi and leaders of the two Oceanian countries agreed to upgrade their diplomatic ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

China and Australia also announced the practical conclusion of their negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA).

"It is a natural result for the two sides to jointly decide to elevate bilateral ties," Xi said during his talks with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.