DPRK and Afghanistan

Qu Xing, president of the China Institute of International Studies, said the "unstable and somehow unpredictable" situation in the DPRK might bring new turbulence and pose a challenge to China, which has all along tried to quench fires on the peninsula.

Beijing will also have to be alert for the potential security, political and economic impact of the withdrawal of troops of the US and NATO from Afghanistan and the presidential election in Afghanistan in 2014, he said.

The Chinese have increasing investments in their war-torn neighbor, which also plays a significant role in China's fight against terrorism, which is rampant in its western areas such as the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

China will host an international foreign ministers' meeting on the Afghanistan issue in 2014.