Photo via Xinhua

From The Boao Forum for Asia to the first China International Import Expo (CIIE), China has achieved outstanding performance, making “opening up” a keyword in China’s diplomacy on the reform and opening up policy's 40th anniversary, experts said.

Addressing the grand gathering on Dec. 18 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, President Xi Jinping underlined China’s commitment to opening up wider to the world and promoting joint efforts to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

“Bearing in mind China’s internal and international imperatives, we have stayed committed to the fundamental national policy of opening-up, followed a proactive approach to opening up, and entered a new stage of comprehensive, multi-level and wide-ranging opening-up, thus creating a sound international environment and broader development space for China,” President Xi said in his speech.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary, “opening up” has become a key word in China’s diplomacy throughout the year, said Su Xiaohui, deputy director of the Institute of International Strategy at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS).

“This is also a general response by China to the current international situation. It’s a clear signal that China wants to strengthen open cooperation and maintain multilateral mechanisms with other countries,” Su said.

China-Russia relations have continued to grow at a high level after several meetings and exchanges between President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, while China and Europe have also forged closer ties following President Xi’s visits to Spain and Portugal.

Thanks to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, South-South cooperation was also elevated to a new level.

“At the core of China’s diplomacy is a community with a shared future for mankind, which is China’s hope for the world,” Su said.

In a year full of uncertainty, China held the CIIE, constantly expanded its openness, and promoted stability and development of global free trade, adding certainty to the world, Professor Gao Fei from China Foreign Affairs University commented.

“In 2018, China’s diplomacy held high the banner of multilateralism and safeguarded the rule-oriented international order. Our proposed cooperation concept is increasingly recognized by the international community and has distinctive features,” said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs of Renmin University of China.

Chinese diplomacy, like a giant vessel navigating the sea, has neither lost direction in the mist, nor been deterred by winds and storms, Wang Yi, China’s State Council and Foreign Minister, said at a briefing in December.