An electric multiple unit (EMU) machinist trainee tries the high-speed train simulator at Tegalluar High Speed Train Depot of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Bandung, Indonesia, on January 17, 2024. Photo: VCG
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently concluded his successful visit to three Asia-Pacific countries, displaying China's willingness to strengthen cooperation with the region. As good friends and economic partners based on mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit, China's relations with regional countries are evolving and constantly reaching new heights.
One important focus of Wang's trip was the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China's cooperation with Indonesia, Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea under the BRI platform has yielded fruitful results.
In Indonesia, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway has become the first high-speed railroad in Southeast Asia, delivering tangible benefits to local development and improving livelihoods of many Indonesians.
In Cambodia, highways constructed with Chinese aid and industrial parks built by Chinese companies have become important drivers of local economic development.
As the first Pacific island country to sign a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with China under the BRI, Papua New Guinea has become China's largest trading partner, investment destination, and engineering contracting market in Pacific island countries.
Unlike the US' past efforts in the Asia-Pacific region, often attached with political strings and hardly bearing any substantive results, China's cooperation and assistance to the countries in the region are based on principles of mutual respect, equality, and win-win, without imposition of any political conditions, experts said.
As the BRI celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, embarking on a new journey of high-quality development, experts said that China's cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries will continue to focus on helping regional countries achieve sustainable development and improve locals' livelihood. This includes enhancing cooperation in emerging areas such as green development and digitalization.
Friends and partners
During Chinese Foreign Minister Wang's recent visit, important exchange meetings with regional countries were held, including the Fourth Meeting of the China-Indonesia High-level Dialogue Cooperation Mechanism co-chaired by Wang and Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia's coordinator for cooperation with China and coordinating minister of maritime affairs and investment, as well as the Seventh Meeting of the China-Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee, co-chaired by Wang and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol.
High-level interactions provided clearer direction for future cooperation under the BRI between China and the three countries.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, while describing Wang's visits, used a common description when referring to the three countries as "good friends and good partners" based on the principles of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and shared development.
That characterization is fair and fitting, given the well-known friendly relations between these three countries and China, experts said, noting that the joint construction of the BRI serves as an accelerator for the continuous growth and enhancement of friendly cooperation between China and the regional countries.
The tangible results under the joint initiative are evident for all to see.
Last week, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway marked its sixth month of operation with a total of 2.56 million passengers being transported. Since its official operation around mid-October, the railway has operated a total of 7,050 rides with a mileage of over 1.26 million kilometers, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing data provided by PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia-China, a joint venture consortium between Indonesian and Chinese state-owned firms that constructs and runs the HSR.
In the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, a landmark project under the BRI in southwestern Cambodia, changes have taken place with the participation of Chinese companies. Over the past decade, the economic zone, a joint venture between Chinese and Cambodian companies, has drawn more than 175 companies from countries including China, Europe, the US, Southeast Asia and other regions to settle there, creating more than 30,000 local jobs.
Papua New Guinea, the largest Pacific Island country, was the first country to sign a memorandum of understanding and cooperation plan in the region for jointly building the BRI.
The Juncao and Upland Rice Project has been implemented in Papua New Guinea for over 20 years, benefiting more than 40,000 local people. The country's Prime Minister James Marape referred to Juncao technology as a "gift from China to the world," with Juncao now known locally as the "grass of happiness" and "grass of prosperity."
China and Papua New Guinea are engaging in negotiations to reach a free trade agreement, and the talks are expected to be completed by June, Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Chen noted that this illustrates that China's cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries is genuinely based on mutual benefit, using strong economic ties to drive overall cooperation and improve local economies and living standards.
China's foreign minister's trip to the Asia-Pacific is of landmark significance as the current relations between China and the regional countries have continued to improve and have reached a very important moment, Zhao Gancheng, a research fellow from the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Against the background of a volatile international landscape, China continues to adhere to multilateralism and inclusive growth in the region, despite the protectionism and egoism of the US, Zhao said.
China's cooperation with the countries differs significantly from that of the US-led West, which often prioritizes its own strategic objectives before local interests, Chen said.
Stark contrast
While the US pledges in the Asia-Pacific often fails to materialize, resulting in empty promises and broad disappointment, China's cooperation under the BRI in the region is in stark contrast - Chinese involvement directly improves education, healthcare, employment and more in the region, Chen said.
During Wang's visit in Indonesia, he referenced public expectations to expand bilateral cooperation in three key directions - digital economy, green development, and improvement of people's livelihood, under the framework of the BRI.
As the BRI is entering a new phase of high-quality development, new opportunities in green economy and digital economy are emerging as countries pursue sustainable development. The extent of Belt and Road cooperation in Asia-Pacific will undoubtedly be expanded to include new frontiers like clean renewable energies and electric vehicles and more, which also signify new quality productive forces in the coming wave of high-quality development, Chen said.
What needs to be tackled next, according to Zhao, is to complete cooperation projects that were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, China's cooperation with regional countries will always be kept as open and transparent and lead to more tangible results for local residents.
"Infrastructure development have been and will continue to be an important part of the BRI cooperation in building quality roads, bridges, railways and other crucial infrastructure," Zhao said. The economic partnership will only get closer and stronger, he added.
近日，我国外交部长王毅访问了印度尼西亚、柬埔寨和巴布亚新几内亚三个亚太国家，展示了中国希望建立与该地区更强合作关系的意愿。我国与印度尼西亚、柬埔寨和巴布亚新几内亚国家的关系基于相互尊重、平等和互利，不断发展并达到新的高度。
王毅此行的一个重点是推动高质量的“一带一路”倡议（BRI）建设。中国与印度尼西亚、柬埔寨和巴布亚新几内亚在BRI框架下的合作已经取得了丰硕的成果。例如，印尼的雅加达-万隆高速铁路成为东南亚首条高速铁路，为当地发展和提高许多印尼人的生活水平带来了实际利益。在柬埔寨，中国援建的高速公路和中国企业建设的工业园区已成为当地经济发展的重要推动力。作为首个与中国签署BRI合作备忘录的太平洋岛国，巴布亚新几内亚成为中国在太平洋岛国中最大的贸易伙伴、投资目的地和工程承包市场。
专家表示，与美国过去在亚太地区的努力相比，美国往往附带政治条件且很少带来实质性结果，而中国对该地区国家的合作和援助基于相互尊重、平等和双赢的原则，不强加任何政治条件。
在王毅访问期间，举行了多次重要的交流会议，包括第四次中印尼高级别对话合作机制会议以及第七次中柬政府间协调委员会会议。这些高层互动为未来BRI下的合作提供了更清晰的方向。
中国外交部发言人林剑在描述王毅的访问时，用“好朋友和好伙伴”来形容这三个国家与中国的关系，这种描述准确而恰当，反映了中国与三个亚太国家友好合作关系的持续增长和加强。
雅加达-万隆高速铁路自运营以来已运送了256万名乘客，行驶里程超过126万公里。在柬埔寨的西哈努克市特区，中国公司的参与已使该经济区成为BRI下的一个地标项目，在过去十年中吸引了来自包括中国、欧洲、美国和东南亚等地区的175多家公司，创造了超过30,000个当地工作岗位。
在推动高质量发展的新阶段，中国与亚太国家的合作将继续专注于帮助地区国家实现可持续发展并提高当地人民的生活水平，包括在绿色发展和数字化等新兴领域加强合作。同时，中国将继续坚持多边主义和包容性增长，尽管面对美国的保护主义和自我中心主义。
