Fu Yingis vice-foreign minister of China

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China sends important messages about the direction of China's foreign policy toward neighboring countries.

The message came at a time when many in the world are watching how a more developed China would choose to use its strength, particularly in its neighborhood.

The congress has given a clear answer to such questions. In the section on foreign policy, the report delivered by former general secretary Hu Jintao said that China would promote the idea of "equality and mutual trust, inclusiveness and mutual learning, and mutually beneficial cooperation" in international relations. He reaffirmed China's long-held commitment to peaceful development and an independent foreign policy.

In the area of policy toward neighbors, the report reiterated that China will "continue to promote friendship and partnership with our neighbors, consolidate friendly relations and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with them".

The report went further to emphasize that China will endeavor to make sure that its own development will bring more benefits to its neighbors.

This policy of "building friendship and partnership with China's neighbors" was written into the 16th as well as the 17th Party congress report.

The idea comes from the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, which was jointly proposed by China, India and Myanmar back in the 1950s and has been upheld by China ever since.

They include: mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. These principles also find roots in China's cultural traditions which has been stressing peace and benevolence in its neighborhood.

These principles have guided China's policy with neighbors through the past decade of enormous change both in China and in the region.

China sees its rise as being part of the historical tide of the Asian renaissance. We see our relationship with neighboring areas as an important foundation for China's global role. While developing ourselves, we must bring benefits to our neighbors and deepen the bond of mutual benefit with them.

Only in this way would we be able to preserve peace and stability in the region and move forward with our neighbors toward shared prosperity and a common destiny.

Such a policy by China has helped to foster continued progress in our region in the past 10 years.

China's trade with neighbors in Northeast, Southeast and South Asia grew from $170 billion to 1 trillion, an increase of around 6 times. While 10 years ago, China's total overseas investment was less than $30 billion, as of the end of 2011, China invested nearly $300 billion in Asia alone. In 2010, companies from the Chinese mainland set up more than 2,000 business ventures in ASEAN countries, creating more than 60,000 local jobs.

China acted as a promoter for regional cooperation in East Asia. We have set up free trade area with ASEAN, the largest among developing countries. We are now working on a trilateral investment agreement with Japan and the Republic of Korea.

We are an active facilitator of ASEAN- plus-3 cooperation, promoting major initiatives. To make the region to be better prepared to face any financial challenges, we worked with our neighbors to expand the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization to $240 billion, to cite a few examples.

China made important contributions to regional peace and stability. We helped to set up the Six-Party Talks. We actively supported the reconstruction of Afghanistan, the law enforcement cooperation in the Mekong River, and regional multilateral security dialogue and cooperation. And we are a persistent proponent of cooperative security aimed at building security for all.

The past decade has also witnessed thriving interactions at the people-to-people level between China and its neighbors. Last year, for example, more than 13 million people traveled between China and ASEAN countries, or 37,000 people daily. Last year, Asian students in China exceeded 160,000, accounting for three fourths of all overseas students in China.

All this is not to suggest that we should rest on our laurels in regional development. There are many areas where much more needs to be done.

We should work further to raise our trade and investment to a higher level. We expect that much of the estimated $100 billion in annual outbound investment from China in the next five years will flow into our neighboring countries.

We are keen to work with them on trade and investment liberalization and facilitation to help foster a favorable investment climate for all companies in the region. We will work hard to build all-round connectivity to strengthen the foundation for long term growth in our region.

At the same time, we need to properly address challenges in our relationship with neighbors. One of them is the need to raise the level of trust, especially regarding the maritime issues.