China's new vision for neighborhood diplomacy
In an uncertain and fragmenting world, China looks to its neighbors for certainty
For anyone who wishes to shut off Trump’s tariff war for a moment, in other news China held the Central Conference on Work Related to Neighboring Countries from April 8 to April 9 to spell out its updated neighborhood policy. While the date was clearly set way before, Trump’s recent tariff war against the world certainly set an interesting backdrop to the meeting.
Compared with a similar conference dedicated to neighborhood diplomacy held in October 2013, there are some visibly similar formulations or “提法” that underscore the consistency of China’s policies in dealing with neighboring countries. In the meantime, the conference also gave an updated appraisal of China’s immediate surrounding and explained new considerations and context that guides Beijing’s neighboring country diplomacy going forward.
Multiple polical blogs (here, here) hailed the conference as the “first of its kind”.
This newsletter offers a translation of the official readout and some footnotes on some the the language I think is worth paying attention to.
【1】TRANSLATION
Note: This is a personal translation for your reference only. Check out the original Chinese text for accurate meaning. Official Xinhua English report (not full translation) here.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries and striving to open new ground for China's neighborhood work.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at a central conference on work related to neighboring countries, which was held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday.
The Central Conference on Work Related to Neighboring Countries① was held in Beijing from April 8 to 9. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the conference and delivered an important speech. Members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi, Ding Xuexiang, and Li Xi, as well as Vice President of China, Han Zheng, also attended the meeting.
In his important speech, Xi Jinping systematically summarized the achievements and experiences of China's work on neighboring countries in the new era②, scientifically analyzed the current situation, clarified the goals, tasks, and approaches for neighboring countries work in the future, and emphasized the need to focus on building A Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future, striving to break new ground on the work related to neighboring countries. Li Qiang, who moderated the conference, emphasized the need to earnestly implement the spirit of Xi Jinping's important speech and solidly ensure the implementation of tasks laid out by the conference.
The conference pointed out that China is vast with long borders, and its surrounding areas are an important foundation for development and prosperity, a key to safeguarding national security, the foremost priority for managing foreign affairs, and a focal point in promoting the construction of a community of shared future for mankind. Conducting work related to neighboring countries should be viewed from a global perspective, enhancing the sense of responsibility and mission for such work.③
The conference highlighted that since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, China conducted diplomacy related to neighboring countries in the spirit of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness, advocating the building of a Neighborhood Community with a Shared Future, leading the way with head-of-state diplomacy, deepening all-round cooperation, strengthening exchanges in various fields, and jointly maintaining peace and stability. This has formed a pragmatic and efficient framework for work related to neighboring countries, leading to historic achievements and heralding historic changes. The experience gained through practice should be preserved and continuously applied.
The conference points out that, currently, China’s relations with its surrounding countries are at their best in modern history, and an important phase of profound interaction between the surrounding environment and global changes has arrived. ③ It emphasized the need to continue to be guided by Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, focusing on the central tasks of the Party and the state, coordinating both domestic and foreign affairs, and addressing the major issues of development and security. The banner of a community of shared future should be upheld. Working with neighboring countries to create a better future by aiming for a common vision of building the "Five Homelands" of peace, tranquility, prosperity, beauty and friendship④, following the principles of building an amicable, peaceful and prosperous neighborhood, amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness⑤, and shared future⑥, embodying the Asian values of peace, cooperation, openness, and inclusiveness⑦, utilizing the high quality Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a platform, and resting on the strategic pillars of Asian security model featuring shared security, seeking common ground while shelving differences, and dialogue and consultation⑧.
The meeting emphasized that building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries requires consolidating strategic mutual trust, supporting regional nations in pursuing stable development paths suited to their national conditions, and properly managing differences and disagreements. It called for deepening development integration by establishing high-level connectivity networks and strengthening industrial and supply chain cooperation. Joint efforts should be made to uphold regional stability, carry out security and law enforcement cooperation, and address various risks and challenges. People-to-people exchanges should be expanded, and the movement of people facilitated.
The meeting stressed that, to carry out work related to neighboring countries effectively, it is imperative to strengthen the centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee and enhance coordination across various sectors. Institutional reform should be deepened, and the legal and regulatory framework concerning foreign affairs should be enhanced. Capacity building and talent development must be advanced, and innovation of theory and practice in work related to neighboring countries should be promoted.
Wang Yi delivered a concluding speech.
Relevant leaders and officials of the Party and the State attended the meeting.
Footnotes:
① The name of the conference (中央周边工作会议) is slightly different from the one in 2013 (周边外交工作座谈会). It left out the word “diplomatic” (外交) while adding “central” (中央), and the Chinese word for conference was upgraded from [座谈会] in 2013 to the more formal [会议] in 2025. Personally, I read the name change to signal an elevation of the importance of the meeting. The word central certainly adds more prestige, while taking out diplomatic suggests the meeting carried significance that extended beyond the realm of foreign policy. And for those following closely, events attended by all PBSC members AND the VP aren’t often.
②Here, new era refers to time after the 18th Party Congress in 2012.
③ Twice, the readout connects work related to neighboring countries and world affairs, contextualizing how Beijing views the role of work related to neighboring countries.
④First put forward by Xi while addressing the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in Nov. 2021.
⑤ [following the principles of building an amicable, peaceful, and prosperous neighborhood, amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness] or [睦邻、安邻、富邻，亲诚惠容] was first put forward in the 2013 conference on neighboring countries.
⑥ Compared with the guiding principle for neighborhood diplomacy laid out in 2013, namely ⑤, the words “shared future” are added. Though the wording is not new and has appeared in numerous speeches and documents, the addition of the word to the guiding principle is nevertheless a new emphasis. Taking into consideration footnote ⑧, which highlighted “shared security“, the addition of the two “shared” to me represents a more clear message to neighboring countries: we are in this together.
⑦ Xi first coined the term Asian values in addressing the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations in Nov. 2021. He later specified the value as “peace, cooperation, inclusiveness and integration” in October 2023, in remarks sent to the international symposium to commemorate the 10th anniversary of China's principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in neighborhood diplomacy. As late as December 2024, the values were still stated as such, but in this conference, the word integration was replaced by openness.
⑧ The Asian security model, described as featuring “featuring mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences and dialogue and consultation” was raised by Wang Yi during the international symposium to commemorate the 10th anniversary of China's principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in neighborhood diplomacy in October 2023. In the conference readout, the part on “mutual respect” was replaced by “shared security”.
On a related note, during the 4th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia Summit held in Shanghai in 2014, Xi said, “China will work along with other parties to advocate Asia security concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable.”
【2】Dive Deeper
In February, Contemporary World, a monthly journal run by the International Department of CPC Central Committee, published three essays by Chinese scholars on neighborhood diplomacy, which expounded on some of the points raised in the conference readout. I picked some of them out but encourage you to read their full essays if you are interested in this topic. The journal is inviting more experts to weigh in on the subject in coming issues, I’ll share more if something catches my eye.
※ On the achievements of neighborhood diplomacy since the 18th Party Congress, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’ Wang Jian writes:
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the construction of a community with a shared future in the region has been continuously implemented. China has issued action plans, joint statements or reached important consensus on building a bilateral community with a shared future with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Mongolia, and has achieved full coverage of implementing a community with a shared future for mankind at the bilateral level with the five Central Asian countries. The construction of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future has continued to advance, and China, the five Mekong countries and the five Central Asian countries have announced the joint construction of a Lancang-Mekong community with a shared future and a China-Central Asia community with a shared future.
In 2022, the total trade volume between China and its neighboring countries reached 2.64 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 41.9% of China's total global trade.
The global security initiative continues to be implemented in the surrounding areas and has been written into the joint government statements between China and Russia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the five Central Asian countries, respectively.
Put simply in numbers:
Among the 29 countries China shares a border with, China has reached a consensus to build a community of shared future with 17, signed BRI documents with 25, and is the largest trading partner with 18.
※ Concerning viewing neighborhood diplomacy in the context of the shifting global landscape, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies’ Zhou Fangyin writes:
Against the backdrop of a turbulent international environment, with Trump returning to power, relations between major powers in China's neighboring regions face greater uncertainty, and the complexity of security and economic issues will become more intertwined. At present and in the future, the security environment facing China's neighboring diplomacy will become more complex.
First, relations between major powers face greater uncertainty. Since the end of 2017, the United States has significantly increased its containment efforts against China.
Secondly, as the United States continues to promote "mini-multilateral mechanisms" around China, the trend of camp formation among countries surrounding China has become increasingly obvious.
Thirdly, security factors continue to interfere more with economic cooperation, more issues on the regional agenda are influenced by security factors, and the zero-sum game mentality in the security field has a greater impact on regional affairs.
Finally, the direction of hot issues in China’s neighborhood is significantly driven by changes in major power relations and the reorganization of relations among neighboring countries, making management and control more difficult.
※On shared Asian values, China Institute of International Studies’ Liu Qing writes:
Asian values are the crystallization of the spiritual and cultural wisdom of Asian countries, reflect the commonality of Asian civilization, and are the value basis for collective identity between China and its neighboring countries.