Li Keqiang's four-nation tour has increased mutual trust and consolidated strategic partnership in Asia and Europe

Premier Li Keqiang's first overseas trip since taking office - to India, Pakistan, Switzerland and Germany - was of strategic significance against the backdrop of the complex and profound changes taking place in the world and showed China's new leadership is forging ahead with its diplomatic strategy.

The persistent financial and debt crises in developed countries have led to a profound restructuring of the global power pattern, and the strategic game between established and emerging powers is becoming increasingly fierce. The United States, Europe and Japan have all been battered by their debt crises to varying degrees and their influence has declined. Meanwhile, emerging powers are collectively rising and have growing international influence.

In the face of this shift in the balance of power, developed countries are doing everything they can to retain their dominance. They have implemented loose monetary policies and trade protectionism against newly emerging economies in an attempt to undermine their export competitiveness, push up inflation and plunge them into stagflation. The US is also pushing forward the Trans-Pacific Partnership and a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union with which it hopes to revive its economic and political dominance.

So it is of particular importance for emerging powers to expand their economic, political, security and cultural cooperation in a comprehensive way. This is why Xi Jinping made Russia the destination for his first foreign visit as president and Li made India the first stop of his first official trip as premier. By visiting Russia, India and Pakistan and actively developing cooperation with these emerging markets, the new Chinese leadership is seeking to forge a Eurasian counterbalance to the two transoceanic partnerships.

Regardless of the growing crises in the Middle East and North Africa and its domestic fiscal situation, the US is determined to promote its Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy. So China's surrounding environment is grim. Premier Li's visits to India and Pakistan reinforced friendly relations with South Asia, while President Xi's visit to Russia did the same, enabling China to focus attention on dealing with challenges from Northeast and Southeast Asia.

Premier Li's visits achieved remarkable results. After his visit to India, strategic mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation have been significantly strengthened. Li and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached a broad consensus and agreed to further strengthen the China-India strategic cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity and to push for new achievements in bilateral cooperation, and the two countries are seeking common ground while reserving differences.

China and India intend to strengthen strategic communication and to enhance mutual trust, promote practical cooperation and deepen the convergence of each other's interests, start bilateral negotiations on regional trade arrangements, and will together advocate building up an economic corridor among Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar and push for closer links between the two major markets of China and India. They will also strengthen defense and security cooperation, expand cultural and people-to-people exchanges and enhance mutual understanding.

2014 has been designated the "Year of China-India Friendly Exchanges" and will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the launch of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. They will also take into account each other's concerns and properly handle sensitive issues, strengthen communication and consultation on border issues, maintain peace and tranquility along the borders before reaching a solution acceptable to both sides, and make full use of the existing mechanisms to beef up cooperation on issues concerning cross-border rivers.

Li reiterated the principle position of the Chinese government on Tibet, and Singh said that the Indian government recognizes the Tibetan Autonomous Region as part of Chinese territory and will not allow any force to conduct anti-China activities on Indian soil.

Li's visit to Pakistan showed that strategic cooperation between the two countries maintains strong momentum and is forging ahead. Pakistan has been one of the countries severely affected by the US-led war on terror and the war in Afghanistan. Li's visit shows China's sincere concern and enduring support for its "iron brother" and "all-weather friend". His visit not only consolidated the traditional friendship between the two countries and deepened strategic cooperation, it also enhanced bilateral economic and trade cooperation, including China's operation of Gwadar port and Pakistan's participation in China's Beidou Satellite Navigation System.

Li's European trip also bore fruit. During his visit to Switzerland, the two sides announced the completion of talks concerning a new free trade agreement, the first to be signed between Beijing and continental Europe. Meanwhile, Germany's strong role in resisting the European sovereign debt crisis makes its strategic partnership with China more important then ever before, as the eurozone is in recession and there is still no end in sight to its sovereign debt crisis.

The diplomatic initiatives of China's new leadership have deepened China's diplomacy in a comprehensive way against the background of the US' transocean partnerships.

The author is deputy director of World Politics Research Institute, affiliated to the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

(China Daily USA 05/28/2013 page11)