The nation will host four major international events this year, as Zhang Yunbi reports.

China is honoring its commitment to boost reciprocity and mutual benefits with the world as it offers a slew of original ideas and fresh action for the four major diplomatic events it will host this year, according to senior diplomats and experts.

The insiders, who are also political advisers attending the ongoing two sessions - the annual meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - made the comments as the world's second-largest economy marks the 40th anniversary of the start of the reform and opening-up policy.

This year, China will host the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia, the Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and the China International Import Expo.

The gatherings will be spread across the year and will cover all four seasons, and the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Monday requested that all efforts be made to ensure they are successful.

Li Baodong, vice-foreign minister, said preparations for the events are progressing smoothly and the global community has responded warmly, with many countries consulting with and contacting Beijing.

"We take hosting these events very seriously, and they will be wonderful. We are full of confidence in this regard," Li said.

New contributions will be made by the nation toward building a new kind of international relations as well as "the Community of Shared Future for Mankind", he added, referring to one of President Xi Jinping's signature concepts.

"I believe all four diplomatic events will achieve bumper harvests and great success."

Li Ruiyu, ambassador to Italy, noted that this year marks not only the first opportunity for translating into reality the blueprint rolled out by the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October, but also the fifth anniversary of the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.

"The transformation and upgrading of China's economy has started a locomotive of growth opportunities for a number of countries, and China's all-out opening-up signals the pathway to greater opportunities," he said.

Improved ties

Many of China's neighbors will be directly involved in, and will benefit from, the first two of the four events because the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia will be held in April, while the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held in Qingdao in East China's Shandong province in June.

Founded in 2001, the Boao Forum for Asia has become a high-end platform for dialogue about key Asian issues among political and business leaders, and senior think tanks.

Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, a veteran diplomat in charge of Asian affairs, noted that this year's forum "carries unprecedented significance".

It will be the first major diplomatic event held in China since the 19th CPC National Congress, Kong said, adding that China will project a "new look" in diplomacy.

As China holds the rotating chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization this year, the summit will be the first of its kind convened after India and Pakistan officially joined the regional organization last year.

"The SCO, founded by China and Russia and the Central Asian member countries in 2001, has become a role model for seeking greater security through cooperation," said Ji Zhiye, president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

The organization has built a system of mutual trust regarding regional security, and member states have jointly cracked down on separatists, extremists and terrorists, as well as championing regional peace and stability, Ji said.

Reaching out

Leaders from the African continent are expected to gather in Beijing in September for the third event - the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The forum, initiated in 2000, has become a major platform for dialogue between China and more than 50 African countries to promote cooperation and joint development.

It routinely convenes a ministerial-level gathering, and China and African nations have agreed to upgrade this year's meeting to a leaders' summit. The last time the forum convened a summit was in South Africa in 2015.

For his first overseas trip of the year, Wang Yi, foreign minister, visited Africa, traveling to Rwanda and other countries, and the forum's summit was a major topic of conversation on each leg of the trip.

Qu Xing, ambassador to Belgium, noted that when China takes the chair of international meetings, it always works hard to ensure that new ideas can be found to deal with demanding issues facing the international community.

The forum is an important venue for catalyzing the pursuit of mutual development and greater win-win cooperation among China and African countries, Qu said.

In November, business and trade delegations from countries across the world will arrive in Shanghai to attend the China International Import Expo, the first of its kind to be held by a major country.

Many leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have pledged to send delegates to participate in the event, which will run from Nov 5 to 10.

Zhang Ming, ambassador and head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union, said the expo will be the first to focus on imports, and "it will be a major, groundbreaking move by China to actively open its market to the world".

China will conduct more proactive import policies and try to achieve balanced development of its imports and exports, he added.

He noted that China has updated the ratio of tariffs, involving 187 types of consumer goods, on imports valued at $13.9 billion.

Behind the scenes

China has hosted a number of leaders' gatherings focused on multilateral diplomacy, and has promoted cooperation with groupings such as the G20, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the BRICS countries and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

In the past five years, President Xi Jinping has put forward a number of original ideas related to international relations at international conferences and translated them into reality.

"By hosting diplomatic events at home, Beijing shows its resolution and ability to fly the banner of globalization and lead the process of multilateral cooperation," said Ji, from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

In four decades of reform and opening-up, China's GDP has risen to the second-highest on the globe as the country integrates with the world economically, and transitions from being "the world's factory" to become "the world's market", he said.

With reference to developing countries, China is promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, helping to introduce new financing channels and looking to assist those countries in the development of the infrastructure facilities they most need, he added.

The four events China will host this year will effectively boost economic reciprocity between the country and the rest of the world, and will "serve as stabilizing factors that will strengthen the community economically with a shared future", said Qu, ambassador to Belgium.

"Every party involved with the community shares both opportunities and risks, and any unilateral action should take the other parties into consideration because everyone's interests are intertwined."

In addition, China will project gravity and consistency as it hosts the events to honor and update the visions it has proposed, especially the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Qu.

Through these gatherings, China will tell the world that its proposals are not a piecemeal approach, and they will be updated constantly to effectively motivate and encourage other countries and international organizations to become part of the vision, he added.

Contact the writer at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn

Localities and road shows provide more drivers for growth

More cities in China are set to host major international diplomatic conferences, with three of the four events to be held in the country this year located outside Beijing.

Boao, a coastal town in the southernmost province of Hainan, has provided a permanent venue for the annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia since 2001. Meanwhile, senior officials have highlighted this year's meeting, which will be held next month, as the first major diplomatic event to be hosted by China this year.

Qingdao, a coastal city in the eastern province of Shandong, is home to one of the world's busiest ports, and in June it will for the first time host a high-level multilateral event - the Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Meanwhile, after hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's Economic Leaders' Meeting in 2001 and the World Expo in 2010, Shanghai, in East China, will host the first China International Import Expo in November.

Selecting localities as venues for major international events has "become a constant choice", said Vice-Foreign Minister Li Baodong, a veteran diplomat in charge of multilateral diplomacy.

China's diplomacy also involves the public, as the country seeks to make a greater contribution to global development and world peace, he added.

Li noted that a growing number of Chinese are traveling abroad or conducting exchanges in areas such as academic research.

"So, diplomacy is not just a mission for the diplomatic authorities or academic institutions. Every Chinese person has a duty to boost publicity for the country," he said.

China is also reinforcing publicity overseas as it sends official delegations to campaign for the country to be chosen as the host of major events, such as the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

The first stop of the global road show for the expo was in Spain on Jan 19, where China's ambassador to the country and officials from the Ministry of Commerce spoke to their Spanish counterparts and businesspeople about the highlights of, and favorable conditions for, the event.

Later, the road show moved on to countries on various continents, such as Singapore, Tajikistan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Gabon and Canada.

"In Belgium, great interest was displayed by the government, business circles and individuals," said Qu Xing, ambassador to Belgium.

The Belgian government has assigned a department to oversee liaisons in this regard, a number of major business councils and associations have held campaigns, and businesses have asked how they can take part in the expo, he added.

He advised them that rather than concentrating on imports and exports, the Shanghai expo will focus solely on imports, adding that the event will provide a great opportunity for those looking for greater mutually beneficial cooperation with China, and will also allow the Chinese market to gain better knowledge of their goods.

What they say

"We have convened the events to contribute to promoting global development and world peace. This is a theme for China and the common aspiration of the international community."

Li Baodong,

member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice-foreign minister

"The annual conference of the Boao Forum for Asia will be the first (major) diplomatic event hosted by China this year, and it will display a new look, new vision and new moves for Chinese diplomacy."

Kong Xuanyou,

member of the CPPCC's 13th National Committee and vice-foreign minister

"The China International Import Expo will be groundbreaking because it will meet the needs of the international community - to achieve greater mutual benefits and win-win cooperation - and China, because the country is constantly developing and needs to open up more."

Qu Xing,

member of the CPPCC's 13th National Committee and ambassador to Belgium

"In the world today, peace may still be a rare commodity, but we cannot abandon our dreams just because reality is complicated ... only by breaking away from the rules of the jungle and the zero-sum game can a new course be charted for relations between countries."

Zhang Ming,

member of the CPPCC's 13th National Committee and ambassador and head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union

"The economic area has been at the forefront of China's interaction with the outside world and a key part of the blueprint China has proposed during the past five years ... China is now approaching the center of the stage economically."

Ji Zhiye,

member of the CPPCC's 13th National Committee and president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

(China Daily 03/08/2018 page4)