摘要：People welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 15, 2025. Xi arrived on April 15 for a state visit to

People welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 15, 2025. Xi arrived on April 15 for a state visit to Malaysia. [Photo/Xinhua]

ByYuan Sha

As the old Chinese saying goes, a near neighbor is better than a distant cousin. Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on his first state visits this year to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia, ushering in China's renewed effort to boost its neighborhood diplomacy, which is highly expected to inject new impetus into the region against the backdrop of a complex and volatile international landscape.

Xiplomacy aims to bolster ties in Southeast Asia

Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia are all friendly neighbors of China, and the head-of-state diplomacy aims at further bolstering ties with the three countries.

China and Vietnam have forged an enduring bond as "camaraderie plus brotherhood." Xi's visit marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Vietnam and also occurs at a crucial time when Vietnam celebrates the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the 80th anniversary of the founding of Vietnam and the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the South. The joint statement of China and Vietnam stressed the dedication of the two countries to deepen their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and accelerate the building of a China-Vietnam community with a shared future with strategic significance, demonstrating the political will of the two sides to cement the bilateral relationship.

Malaysia was the first ASEAN country to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China after the founding of ASEAN, and one of the first ASEAN countries to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with China. During this visit, Xi announced the next "50 golden years" of China-Malaysia relations. As Malaysia is serving as the rotating chair of ASEAN and the coordinator of China ASEAN relations this year, as well as a BRICS partner country, Xi's visit demonstrates China's support to Malaysia for its role in ASEAN and its willingness to cooperate with Malaysia in multilateral platforms for the benefit of the wider region.

Featured by "ironclad friendship," China and Cambodia established a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership as early as 2010. In 2023, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet chose China for his first official visit after taking office, which shows that the new Cambodian government attaches great importance to developing China-Cambodia relations. Xi's visit this week is expected to lead to discussions on the elevation and new characterization of the China-Cambodia relationship, which will open a new era of bilateral relations.

The three Southeast Asian countries differ in their political models, development stages, and cultural traditions; nevertheless, they harbor the common aspiration for regional peace and development, and share a positive attitude toward China's role in the region. According to a recent survey conducted by CGTN and Renmin University of China through the New Era International Communication Research Institute, the public of the three countries hold highly favorable views on China's economic prowess (Vietnam 97.6 percent, Malaysia 94 percent, Cambodia 95.7 percent), technological strength (Vietnam 98 percent, Malaysia 95.8 percent, Cambodia 95.9 percent), as well as China's regional and international influence.

People welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 15, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

A community with a shared future with ASEAN countries

Xi's Southeast Asia tour echoes the Central Conference on Work Related to Neighboring Countries held in Beijing last week, which stressed the priority of neighboring countries in China's diplomacy and the goal of building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries. As China's bilateral agreements with Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia to build a community with a shared future demonstrate, fostering such a community with ASEAN countries would further contribute to the prosperity, stability and unity of the region.

First of all, it is beneficial to regional prosperity. Asia is currently facing unprecedented tariff wars unleashed by the U.S., but as the value of China-ASEAN trade was about twice as high as ASEAN-U.S. trade in 2024, it is essential for China and ASEAN to strengthen trade relations in an effort to withstand external shocks. Xi wrote in the Nhan Dan of Vietnam, "We should enhance multilateral collaboration and promote Asia's prosperity and revitalization." Fostering a China-ASEAN community of shared future would further deepen economic integration and secure robust supply chains in the region.

Second, it is conducive to regional stability. As extra-regional powers intend to stir up tensions in the region, especially in the South China Sea, a China-ASEAN community of shared future would aim for common security in the region. Xi wrote in the Malaysian newspaper before this visit, "China will work with Malaysia and other ASEAN countries to combat the undercurrents of geopolitical and camp-based confrontation, as well as the countercurrents of unilateralism and protectionism, in keeping with the historical trend of peace and development," demonstrating China's dedication to work with ASEAN countries to safeguard peace and stability in the region.

Last but not least, it is essential to consolidate regional unity. Together, China and ASEAN account for about a quarter of the world's population and are the world's second and fifth largest economies respectively. Furthermore, China and ASEAN countries are major developing countries and emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific, representing key players in the Global South. An even closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future in line with the principle of "amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness" would transform Asia into a powerful force on the world stage, which would play a bigger role in regional and international issues, uphold fairness and justice, and advocate for an equal and orderly multipolar world.

Yuan Sha, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an associate research fellow at the Department for Global Governance and International Organization Studies, China Institute of International Studies.

来源：中国网一点号