Xi salutes new prospects for Asia

Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged Asian countries and their partners to join hands in opening up new prospects for Asian security and development under new circumstances.

He was addressing the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia held in Tajikistan on Saturday.

Xi called on CICA members to build an Asia featuring mutual respect and trust, security and stability, development and prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, as well as cooperation and innovation.

China will steadfastly pursue a peaceful development path, stick to opening-up and all-win approaches, uphold multilateralism, and work together with all sides to create a better future for Asia and the world, said the Chinese president.

Hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, the CICA summit was attended by leaders or representatives of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, Russia, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and other member countries, as well as representatives of observer states and relevant international and regional organizations.

Participants exchanged views on the theme “Shared Vision for a Secure and More Prosperous CICA Region.”

Xi said that building an Asia featuring mutual respect and mutual trust is CICA members’ shared expectation.

He called on members to adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respect each other’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, as well as their respective choice of political systems and development paths.

We should discard zero-sum game and protectionism, enhance policy communication, improve political mutual trust and gradually expand strategic consensus, said Xi.

Noting that building a safe and stable Asia is a common goal of regional countries, Xi called for dialogue rather than confrontation, and partnership instead of alliance among CICA members.

To properly address various traditional and non-traditional security problems, we should stand firm in cracking down on terrorism of all forms, take all kinds of effective precaution measures and extinguish extremism at its roots.

Building a cooperative and innovative Asia is our common need, the president said, calling for innovation in such areas as theory, institutions, science and technology as well as culture.

China will push forward the construction of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.

Firstly, China will steadfastly pursue a peaceful development path, Xi said, vowing never to seek benefits at the expense of others.

China will continue to deepen friendly cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, address territorial and maritime disputes with relevant countries through peaceful means, and support dialogue and consultation in solving regional hot-spot issues.

Secondly, China will stick to opening-up and all-win approaches, and share development opportunities with various countries.

Xi added that China is willing to work with all sides to take the advantage of the Belt and Road international cooperation platform to inject powerful momentum into their common development.

China will hold the second China International Import Expo this year, which will allow all parties to access the Chinese market, he said.

Thirdly, the Chinese president pledged to firmly uphold multilateralism and safeguard the international order based on international laws.

Tajikistan is the second leg of Xi’s Central Asia trip, which also took him to Kyrgyzstan for a state visit and the 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.