Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday stressed importance of win-win cooperation and called for properly managing differences while handling bilateral ties during meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the 25th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting.[Special coverage]
Xi said healthy and stable development of relations between China and its neighboring countries will bring peace and stability to the region and the world at large.
WIN-WIN COOPERATION
In his keynote speech at the APEC meeting held in Vietnam's central port city of Da Nang, Xi outlined pragmatic ways to achieve common development by furthering economic globalization, fostering an open economy, and promoting trade and investment liberalization.
"We need to take determined steps toward a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific in line with the agreed roadmap, and herald a new round of development in the Asia-Pacific in the course of opening up," Xi said.
During his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Xi said the two countries share broad common interests in promoting their economic and social progress, and in realizing regional peace, stability and prosperity.
Xi added that friendly exchanges and win-win cooperation have always been the main theme of China-South Korea diplomatic relations since they were forged 25 years ago, while China places importance on its relations with South Korea.
China stands ready to join hands with South Korea to push for the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties, Xi said, as good bilateral ties are in accordance with the trend of history and time, as well as the common expectation of the two peoples.
While meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Chinese president called on the two countries to speed up the alignment of their development initiatives -- the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan -- and deepen cooperation in such areas as economy and trade, finance, production capacity and infrastructure construction, so as to achieve mutual beneficial and win-win results.
In his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Xi said that as China and Japan are neighbors and major economies in Asia and the world, a stable development of China-Japan relationship conforms to the interests of both sides and also has an important influence on the region and the world at large.
The two sides should, bearing in mind the fundamental interests of the two peoples, correctly grasp the general direction of peace, friendship and cooperation, and work to enable the bilateral relations to keep improving and developing for the better through unremitting efforts and accumulating positive factors, Xi said.
Meanwhile, in his meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Xi stressed that with the two countries' cooperation enhanced, bilateral relations have seen healthy and stable development, bringing tangible benefits to both peoples and contributing to the region's peace and stability.
The Chinese president also witnessed the signing of a bilateral deal with his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet, on upgrading the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries, underlining that this is China's first FTA upgrade completed with a Latin American country.
REGIONAL PEACE AND STABILITY
Reaffirming China's commitment to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the world, the Chinese president said China will treat neighboring countries with amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, pushing forward the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Xi told Duterte that China is to work with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to maintain peace and stability, as well as development and prosperity in the South China Sea region.
He also called for more dynamic people-to-people exchanges between Beijing and Hanoi to promote mutual understanding and friendship between people of the two countries, during his meeting with Phuc.
He suggested that China and Vietnam should properly deal with divergences to ensure the relations between the two parties and the two countries always move forward along the right direction.
Meanwhile, Xi urged Japan to take more "practical actions" to improve ties with China and properly manage differences between the two countries in a "constructive way."
"To improve China-Japan ties, the key is mutual trust," Xi told Abe.
A constructive way should be used to manage and control the differences between the two countries, he said.
Noting that the China-South Korea relations are at a crucial stage, Xi told Moon that both sides need to respect each other's core interests and major concern, maintain mutual political trust, and enhance communication and coordination.
He reiterated China's stance on the issue of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), stressing that on such high-stake issues, the two sides should take an attitude that is responsible to history, to bilateral ties and to both peoples, and make decisions that can stand the test of history, so as to steadily move forward bilateral relations in the right direction.
He said that China sincerely hopes for the best for the peninsula, and encourages South Korea to resume contact and dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and restart cooperation for reconciliation.
China is willing to maintain communication with South Korea on promoting peace, stability and talks, as well as avoiding conflicts on the peninsula, said Xi.
