Building Relations with Neighboring Countries Based on Friendship, Good Faith, Mutual Benefit and Inclusiveness

At a symposium on relations with neighboring countries on October 24, 2013, Xi Jinping described China’s neighborhood diplomacy as one rooted in the principles for building strong relations with its neighbors based on friendship, good faith, mutual benefit and inclusiveness.

Friendship involves good-neighborly interactions, mutual support and assistance, and frequent reciprocal visits, and is informed by equality, cultural affinity, and empathy. The more we do to win the hearts and minds of our neighbors, the stronger our ties will become. Strengthened friendship helps us win support for the goals we pursue on the world stage, and enhances our appeal and our influence in world affairs. Good faith is indispensable if we want to work with and win trust from our neighbors. We need more friends and partners. Mutual benefit is the foundation on which China cooperates with its neighbors. It helps strengthen networks for those who share common interests, and enables China and its neighbors to benefit from each other as they pursue their development strategies. Inclusiveness is key to regional cooperation. Underpinned by the belief that the Asia-Pacific region is large enough to accommodate us all, it encourages open-mindedness as we work more proactively towards our shared goals.

The emphasis on friendship, good faith, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness represents the essence of China’s policy of good-neighborliness, as part of China’s peaceful development strategy. It also reflects the fresh thinking on foreign policy of China’s new leadership.

“親、誠、惠、容”的周邊外交理念

2013年10月24日，習近平在周邊外交工作座談會上強調，中國周邊外交的基本方針，就是堅持與鄰為善、以鄰為伴，堅持睦鄰、安鄰、富鄰，突出體現親、誠、惠、容的理念。親是指鞏固地緣相近、人緣相親的友好情誼，要堅持睦鄰友好、守望相助，講平等、重感情，常見面、多走動，多做得人心、暖人心的事，使周邊國家對我們更友善、更親近、更認同、更支持，增強親和力、感召力、影響力。誠是指堅持以誠待人、以信取人的相處之道，要誠心誠意對待周邊國家，爭取更多朋友和伙伴。惠是指履行惠及周邊、互利共贏的合作理念，要本著互惠互利的原則同周邊國家開展合作，編織更加緊密的共同利益網絡，把雙方利益融合提升到更高水平，讓周邊國家得益于我國發展，使我國也從周邊國家共同發展中獲得裨益和助力。容是指展示開放包容、求同存異的大國胸懷，要倡導包容的思想，強調亞太之大容得下大家共同發展，以更加開放的胸襟和更加積極的態度促進地區合作。親、誠、惠、容這“四字箴言”，是新形勢下中國堅持走和平發展道路的一份生動宣言，是對多年來中國周邊外交實踐的一個精辟概括，也反映了中國新一屆中央領導集體外交理念的創新發展。