Fostering partnership in an uncertain world: Wang Xiaolong reflects on China's foreign policy and China-New Zealand relations.

• Author: Xiaolong, He Wang

China's foreign policy is, like the foreign policy of other countries, including New Zealand, largely an extension or a function of its domestic affairs. One can hardly have a full grasp of China's diplomacy without getting to know the country's overall development goals and plans.

Last October, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) convened its 20th National Congress. General-Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a report which, on the basis of reflections on the progress China has made in past decades and the lessons we have learnt from that journey, charted the way forward for the country in the next five years and beyond, laying out China's domestic and foreign policies and strategic intentions in an open and transparent manner. The report is arguably the best guide to understanding contemporary China and where the country will go from here both domestically and in terms of its external relations.

The report reaffirms that the fundamental and central task of China's future development is to realise the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through a Chinese path to modernisation. In more mundane words, the top priority for the CCP and government is still to pursue economic development with a view to meeting the aspirations of the Chinese people for progressively better lives.

There have been allegations that China has pivoted away from economic development as its central mission, which is a misconception or misrepresentation of China's policy stance. The report clearly states that development continues to be, as it has always been since the start of reform and opening-up, the paramount task for the CCP in its drive to rejuvenate the nation. It follows that we will continue to focus on promoting high-quality economic development as the organising theme for all our pursuits. The centrality of development is determined by what we call the principal contradiction or the primary challenge facing China, namely, the gap between unbalanced and inadequate development and the people's ever-growing needs for a better life. In line with this central task, the report projects a vision for the country in the next five years, through 2035 and up until mid-century; it identifies the long-term and structural policy frameworks as well as the necessary institutional backstops in different areas to deliver on that vision.

Diplomatic purpose

China's diplomacy is there to serve and support the realisation of that vision. Our commitment to upholding world peace, promoting common development and prosperity and building a global community with a shared future is the first and foremost requisite to help create a peaceful and favourable external environment for our own development to take place. It also coheres with China's tradition of acting in good faith, making friends of all and fostering good-neighbourliness. In addition, the CCP, since its inception 100 years ago, has taken it upon itself to promote progress for humanity on top of pursuing happiness for the Chinese people. The adoption of such a foreign policy is by no means a choice of convenience. Rather, it is a long-term, strategic and fundamental decision.

The report also points out that seeking peaceful development is a defining feature of the Chinese path to modernisation. Again, we shall strive to safeguard world peace and promote development to enable our own development, which will, in turn, empower us to make a greater contribution to the wider global cause. China has never bullied or invaded others, and will never do so. No matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism.

We have, though, a saying in Chinese: the trees want to stay still, but the wind keeps blowing. We are witnessing turmoil in our world, as it is undergoing profound and drastic transformations unseen in a century. Coalescing with a sluggish world economy and acute global challenges, these changes have given rise to increasing uncertainties, risks and even outright dangers.

Indeed, the world today is hardly a very peaceful place. Power politics and hegemonism are on the rise. A small number of countries blatantly bully and interfere in the internal affairs of others, create divisions and confrontations and even stoke conflicts and wars. It is particularly concerning that, on war and peace, what used to be unthinkable seems increasingly less inconceivable. Contrary to what these countries often claim, rather than 'live and let live' they apparently believe in 'live and let die'. Out of a zero-sum mindset, they do not want to see other countries develop. Even worse, in order to maintain their own dominance, they proactively hinder, suppress and contain other countries through sanctions, barriers, blockades, disruption or even severance of supply chains and decoupling. They practise unilateralism and undermine the multilateral system, international law and broadly accepted norms of international relations, eroding the mutual trust and the institutional foundation which are essential if we are to address global issues through global co-operation.

Such egregious behaviours, albeit by a small number of countries, not only pose challenges to China's development but also seriously damage the interests of the international community as a whole.

Important crossroads

The world has come to yet another crossroads, and its future will be decided by all countries' respective and collective decisions. As far as we are concerned, the report to the 20th Congress clearly proclaims that:

China...