China has for long dedicated itself to building friendship and partnership with its neighbors and pursuing common development, and it will stick to the policy in the future.
Beijing's commitment to creating an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood was on full display when Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping traveled to Vietnam and Thailand last December. The trip gave a strong boost to China's ties with the two nations as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Also last month, Chinese leaders hosted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Beijing, where the two sides pledged to further improve bilateral ties and make concerted efforts for regional peace and stability.
The recent diplomatic events rounded off a year of genuine efforts by China to enhance mutual understanding with its neighbors and achieve win-win progress against the backdrop of worldwide economic gloom and political turmoil.
Frequent high-level visits and constructive participation in regional and global summits bore witness to China's attachment. The region-wide robust economic growth gave body to China's commitment.
Many disputes do remain unsolved, such as those over the South China Sea. But on such issues, the Chinese government has adhered firmly to the principle of dialogue and cooperation and acted responsibly for the common good of all concerned.
Beijing's trustworthy approach has borne fruit. For example, China and the ASEAN adopted in July an agreement on the guidelines of implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), taking a step forward on the complicated historical question.
Looking into the new year, China and its neighbors face daunting common challenges. Debt woes across the Atlantic are still looming over the world economy, and the effect of the drastic transformation in West Asia and North Africa is yet to reveal itself.
Meanwhile, the United States' high-profile "pivot" to Asia strategy, widely perceived as an attempt to counterbalance what Washington peddles as "China's rising influence" in the region, has further complicated China's neighborhood.
Yet no matter how the landscape changes, Beijing will continue to uphold the time-honored Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, deepen its friendship and partnership with neighboring countries and strive for regional peace and common prosperity.
China's peaceful development does not pose any threat to anyone. As recent history has revealed, China serves a powerful economic engine for the region and the world, and its advancement provides an opportunity for all the other peace-loving nations to live a better life in a more peaceful world.
Moreover, just like China, most of China's neighbors are developing countries. Therefore, development is of particularly high significance and should be treated as a top priority. Governments need to focus on improving their peoples' livelihood.
It is thus highly advisable and hugely rewarding that China's neighbors work together with Beijing to propel their relations and cooperation forward and thus bring more tangible benefits to the peoples within and beyond their borders.
What happened in the past has also proved that China and its neighbors have the will, wisdom and ability to settle their disputes on their own. As long as they follow the light of dialogue and cooperation as China does, there will always be a way out.
At the turn of the year, it is especially meaningful to recall Chinese President Hu Jintao's keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the 2011 annual conference of the Bo'ao Forum for Asia: "China will always be a good neighbor, good friend and good partner of other Asian countries."
