In an article captioned 'Innovation of Peripheral Diplomacy and Policy Practice' and published by the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Zhou Fangyin the Dean and Professor of the School of International
Relations, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, stated that "China has always attached great importance
to developing relations with neighbouring countries" and since the 18th Party Congress followed a policy of
"being good with neighbours and partnering with neighbours". It observed that in April 2015, China and
Pakistan upgraded their China-Pakistan strategic partnership to an "all-weather strategic partnership" and the
“China-Pakistan Economic Corridor”, as the flagship project of the “Belt and Road” initiative, "has become
a pragmatic cooperation between China and Pakistan to jointly forge a bilateral destiny". In June 2019, China
and Russia announced the development of a "comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era", which is
currently the highest-level partnership of China's diplomacy. He added that China has also established
"comprehensive strategic partnerships" with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, established
"strategic partnerships" with South Korea, Brunei, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and India,
and established "permanent comprehensive strategic partnerships" with Kazakhstan and establish a
"comprehensive strategic partnership" with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and
Mongolia. China and Laos, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Myanmar, he said, have "reached consensus on
building a community with a shared future". The cooperation between the two sides has been further
consolidated, enriched, and enhanced. At the same time, China is also actively promoting the construction
of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future and a China-Central Asia community with a shared
future. The building of a community with a shared future in the surrounding areas is gradually spreading from point to surface, and continues to deepen. The coronavirus pandemic was identified as "the most serious
public health crisis in the world since the end of World War II". Zhou Fangyin also referred to the "effective
management and control of hot issues", where he said, "the long-term existence of a variety of hot issues is
a challenge facing China's surrounding environment". He added "The emergence of this phenomenon is not
only caused by complicated historical factors, but also influenced by the transformation of the current
regional order. These hot issues are difficult to be fundamentally resolved in a short period of time, but with
the joint efforts of China and neighbouring countries, overall management and control are relatively effective.
Even in the face of interference from many external factors, the relationship between China and neighbouring
countries remains stable and developing for the better. Taking into account the inherent complexity and
mutual interaction of surrounding hotspot issues, the continuous involvement of countries outside the region
for many years, the profound changes in regional power, the instability and uncertainty of the international
situation, and the ongoing deep-level transformation of the regional order, China has successfully maintained
Effective management and control of surrounding hotspot issues and promoting the continued development
of relations with neighbouring countries are quite commendable". He said, in conclusion, that "China's
neighbouring diplomacy" since the 18th Party Congress "has been carried out under the background of the
gradual strengthening of strategic competition between China and the United States. Despite the
unfavourable international environment, under the guidance of innovative ideas and the joint efforts of both
sides, China's relations with neighbouring countries have undergone new development, and China's ability
to shape a good surrounding environment has been improved". He concluded that "as the sense of community
with a shared future takes root further, the relationship between China and neighbouring countries will be
improved, which will also lay a solid foundation and provide a stronger foundation for peace, stability and
prosperity in the region".
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