Delivering a report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Oct 18, General Secretary Xi Jinping said major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics aims to foster a new type of international relations and build a community of shared future for humankind. He stressed that China will never seek its own development at the expense of other countries, nor will it forfeit its legitimate interests.

This means a rising China on the road to national rejuvenation will only be of help to the international community.

Along with its economic prowess, China's increasingly ambitious, but mutually beneficial, foreign policy is at times misunderstood. Questions have been asked about where the country stands in the global arena and how it balances its role as an emerging power and the world's largest developing country.

The answer lies in the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics that is reshaping the way China deals with international affairs and participates in global governance.

But the new type of Chinese diplomacy is not a new concept. It is based on traditional Chinese culture and China's role as a developing economy and socialist society. In fact, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country's development has been based on peace-loving, inclusive diplomacy, which has evolved in keeping with the changing times.

China's foreign policy, primarily bolstered by development at home, will help create a favorable external environment needed to build a moderately well-off society in an all-round way and defend its legitimate interests overseas. Only by consolidating national strength can China contribute more to the community of shared destiny.

Beijing will also strive to broaden its participation in global and regional affairs while shouldering more responsibility as a guardian of the world order, as China is now the largest trade partner of about 128 countries and among the most popular investment destinations. And as a fast-growing market for exports and a major energy importer, China has contributed more than 30 percent to global growth since the 2008 financial crisis.

Another feature of the major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics is the new type of major-country relationship, especially the one between China and the United States, with the principles of nonconfrontation and win-win cooperation as its foundation. This is very important, as a stable, healthy China-US relationship could well be the bedrock of world peace.

From a beneficiary of, to a leading contributor to, globalization, China is determined to rise above its huge success in reducing poverty by providing constructive proposals and tangible public goods to revive the world economy.

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Silk Road Fund offer not just wider financing channels for emerging economies, but also institutional dynamism to global economic governance. Featuring lean, green and clean management, China-backed multilateral financial institutions like the AIIB are more than a supplement to the international financing system and will help reform the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

By helping build a community with a shared destiny for humankind and proposing the Belt and Road Initiative, China has made clear its major country diplomacy is about offering targeted assistance to countries in need as much as about optimizing postwar global governance.

It is hoped that the new type of international relations will develop beyond ideologies and short-term interests, and evolve in a more inclusive direction.

The author is a Jean Monnet chair and a professor at the School of International Studies, Renmin University of China. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 11/03/2017 page11)