President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Central Asia next month will be a good chance for the outside world to better understand the innovative diplomacy of China's new leadership, which features a balanced approach to forging pragmatic cooperation with both old and new partners.

The Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Xi will pay state visits to Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan from Sept 3 to 13. He is also scheduled to attend the summit of the G20, due to be held in St. Petersburg from Sept 5 to 6, as well as the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, on Sept 13.

The itinerary for Xi's trip and its intensive schedule are evidence that China's new leaders are keen to cement old friendships and forge new ones, and want to enable the outside world to better understand where China stands on bilateral and multilateral platforms.

The upcoming tour of Central Asia will be Xi's third international trip this year. Shortly after he took office in March, he paid a visit to Russia and three African countries and attended the fifth leaders' summit of BRICS countries in the South African city of Durban. In June, before meeting his US counterpart Barack Obama in California, Xi visited Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, and Mexico .

Premier Li Keqiang made his international debut as China's head of government with visits to South Asia and Europe in May.

Hence, in less than six months since taking office, China's new leaders have visited five out of the seven continents. Such devotion to building top-level rapport with various countries across the world is rarely seen.

China's new leaders have stamped their mark on China's foreign policy, and sent an unmistakable message to the rest of the world that China is seeking pragmatic cooperation for mutual benefit. Unlike those who are competing with one other for the so-called "spheres of influence", China's leaders are seeking to enhance cooperation with old-time pals and forge deeper bonds with new partners.

This more active diplomatic approach is in line with the country's commitment to the path of peaceful development and its desire to establish sound interaction and mutually beneficial relations with other countries.

(China Daily USA 08/28/2013 page11)