As President Donald Trump threatens direct US involvement in the war against Iran, his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping continues to plead for “mutual care and mutual benefit.” A strong belief in fairness and justice and an unyielding commitment to mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, are the only way to maintain world peace and achieve common development.
“There is no winner in tariff wars or trade wars. Unilateralism, protectionism and hegemonism will surely backfire while hurting others, Xi said in his keynote speech at the 2nd China-Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Drawing on an ancient Chinese philosophy, Xi again called for a win-win collaboration beneficial to all.
“Ancient Chinese philosophy advocates ‘mutual care and mutual benefit. ‘ A Central Asian proverb compares harmony and unity to happiness and wealth … and China is ready to work with all parties to carry forward the China-Central Asia Spirit, pursue the goal of a community with a shared future…” said the Chinese President
The Chinese president reiterated his country’s foreign policy that centres on respect and no harm to the core interests of any other party.
“We seek to deepen mutual trust and enhance mutual support. We firmly support each other in safeguarding independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity. We do not do anything harmful to the core interests of any party,” said the president.
The following are a few excerpts from Xi’s speech at Astana, which was followed by the signing of a new China-Central Asia Treaty on Eternal Good-neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation to enshrine the principle of everlasting friendship in the form of law.
# We pursue mutual benefit and win-win cooperation and strive for common development. We view each other as priority partners and share development opportunities together. We accommodate each other’s interests and work to build a win-win and symbiotic relationship.
# We help each other in times of need and stand together through thick and thin. We support each other in choosing development paths suitable to our respective national conditions and in taking domestic matters into our own hands. We work together to address various risks and challenges and uphold regional security and stability.
# Today, unprecedented changes are unfolding at a faster pace across the globe, thrusting the world into a new state of heightened turbulence and volatility. I always maintain that history should move forward, not backward; and the world should be united, not divided. Humanity must not regress to the law of the jungle. Instead, we should build a community with a shared future for mankind.
# Two years on, China and Central Asian countries have further deepened and substantiated Belt and Road cooperation. Our trade has grown by 35 percent, and we have made important progress in industrial investment, green mining, technological innovation, and other fields of cooperation. The package of projects with Chinese financial support are well underway. While more and more Chinese new energy vehicles and photovoltaic products are entering Central Asian markets, Central Asian agricultural products, including honey, fruits, wheat and poultry, are diversifying the dinner tables of Chinese families.
# Our cooperation is rooted in more than 2,000 years of friendly exchanges, cemented by solidarity and mutual trust cultivated through more than three decades of diplomatic ties, and taken forward via openness and win-win cooperation of the new era. Building on our collective efforts over the years, we have forged a China-Central Asia Spirit of “mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit, and mutual assistance for the joint pursuit of modernization through high-quality development.”
# Two years on, the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project has been officially launched. We are making steady progress in planning for the third railway link between China and Kazakhstan, in the phase-II restoration of the China-Tajikistan highway, and in China-Turkmenistan energy cooperation. Freight train services are connecting more and more Chinese cities to Central Asia. The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route has been upgraded and expanded. Green industries, digital economy, artificial intelligence, aviation and space are becoming new drivers of our cooperation. Cross-border e-commerce, online education, and other new business models are benefiting more and more people in China and Central Asia.
# Two years on, we have launched 13 ministerial cooperation platforms under the China-Central Asia mechanism. The Secretariat is fully functioning, and the core framework of the mechanism is largely in place.
# We have agreed to designate 2025 and 2026 as the Years of High-Quality Development of China-Central Asia Cooperation. We should focus our cooperation on smooth trade, industrial investment, connectivity, green mining, agricultural modernization and personnel exchanges, and roll out more projects on the ground. We should do our best to get early harvests as soon as possible.
# In order to promote relevant cooperation, China has decided to establish three cooperation centers, i.e. on poverty reduction, on education exchange, and on desertification prevention and control, as well as a cooperation platform on smooth trade under the China-Central Asia cooperation framework.
# China supports Central Asian countries in modernizing their national defense, law enforcement and security capacities. We will do our best to help Central Asian countries combat terrorism and transnational organized crime and safeguard cybersecurity and biosecurity. We will launch more Safe City projects and conduct more joint exercises and joint training cooperation.
# Afghanistan is our close neighbor. We should strengthen coordination to help the country boost its development capacity and achieve peace, stability, reconstruction and development at an early date.
# China is ready to set up more cultural centers, university branches and Luban Workshops in Central Asia, and launch new majors in Central Asian languages in Chinese universities. We will continue to carry out effectively the “China-Central Asia technology and skills improvement scheme” to train more high-caliber talent for Central Asian countries.
# China is building a great modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through Chinese modernization. No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain unwavering in opening up to the outside world and embrace higher-quality cooperation with Central Asian countries to deepen the integration of interests and achieve common development.
