From June 17 to 25, 2008, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping paid an official visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen on invitation. Before wrapping up the tour and leaving for home, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, who accompanied Vice President Xi during the tour, summarized major results of Vice President Xi's five-nation Asian tour.

Zhang said that is the first outbound trip by Xi Jinping as the vice president of China and a major diplomatic event of China this year. The tour is tightly scheduled, pragmatic, efficient and productive. It has effectively promoted the development of bilateral ties with the five Asian nations. It is a tour of friendship, communications and cooperation.

I. Traditional friendship enhanced

The five nations are all traditional friends of China. The friendly exchanges between China and the five nations have a long history. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, bilateral friendly cooperation has been growing smoothly. The five nations also attached great importance to Vice President Xi's visit and honored him with warmth, friendship and high-profile protocol.

Vice President Xi met extensively with state leaders of the five nations and the people from different circles. Xi expressed the will of China to enhance friendly ties with the five nations and the wish of China to advance the cooperation in such areas as politics, economy, culture and education. During his trip to DPRK, Xi said China hopes to make joint efforts with DPRK to carry forward the traditional friendship established and fostered by the leaders of elder generations. China and DPRK agreed to set the next year, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, as the China-DPRK friendship year. During his trip to Mongolia, Xi reaffirmed China respects the independence and sovereignty of Mongolia and the path chosen by the Mongolian people. Both nations agreed to strengthen the neighborly partnership of mutual trust. During Xi's trip to Saudi Arabia, the two countries signed a joint statement on enhancing cooperation and strategic relationship of friendship. During the trip to Qatar, Xi said China will consider having political and economic dialogues with Qatar. During the trip to Yemen, both countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in such fields as poverty elimination and sustainable development.

During the meetings and talks, the leaders of the five nations once again expressed their condolences over the earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan. They complimented China's disaster relief efforts, expressed their firm support to China's position on Taiwan and the issues related to Tibet, and wished the Beijing Olympic Games a success. This is an embodiment of the profound friendship between the people of the five nations and the Chinese people.

II. Mutually-beneficial cooperation promoted

Generally, China and the five Asian countries enjoy strong complementarities in economy, and strong foundation, great potentials and bright prospects for cooperation. The five countries all have strong wishes to strengthen cooperation with China. Vice President Xi had an in-depth exchange of views with the leaders of the five countries on further consolidating cooperation and exchange in all fronts, reached new and important consensus on many issues, and signed a number of cooperation documents involving agriculture, economy, trade, energy, resources, infrastructure development, culture, education and tourism. China and DPRK decided to cooperate in such new areas as transportation and civil aviation. China and Mongolia signed the Outline for Mid-term Development of Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Mongolia. China and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to strengthen infrastructure development. China and Qatar decided to establish the China-Qatar Investment Promotion Council. China and Yemen signed a new accord for governmental, economic and technical cooperation. This has injected new vigor and vitalities to bilateral cooperation between China and the five nations.

Xi also met with the secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the two sides reached further consensus on strengthening cooperation between China and the GCC and its members.

Xi also attended China-Mongolia, China-Saudi Arabia, and China-Yemen trade and economic seminars, during which he raised suggestions and propositions on strengthening bilateral trade and economic cooperation, stressed the principle of mutual respect, innovation, mutual benefits and common development, and pointed out that the laws and acts should be perfected, cooperation mechanisms improved and cooperation order standardized. The governments and businesses of the five nations responded warmly. They welcomed Chinese businesses to make investment and pledged a better investment environment. Xi asked Chinese-funded agencies and Chinese engineering staffs to abide by local laws, respect local customs and traditions, cherish quality, value credibility, and do more to benefit the local people so as to develop Chinese brands, build up the image of China and make these cooperation projects symbols of friendship.

III. Communications and mutual trust increased

Xi and the leaders of the five nations shared their views and propositions on their respective domestic situations and major regional and international issues. Xi introduced the economic and social development of China, particularly China's earthquake relief efforts and the preparations for the Beijing Olympics. He stressed that Chine adheres to reform and opening up and stick to the road of peaceful development. China will consistently follow the diplomatic guideline of "being a good neighbor and partner", unswervingly pursue an opening up strategy featuring mutual benefits and win-win results, and stay committed to building a harmonious world with lasting peace and common prosperity.

The leaders of the five nations were happy for what has been achieved by China in terms of development. They regarded China's development as opportunities. They hoped to carry out exchanges and share experiences with China in the field of administering state affairs and increase communications and consultations with China on major regional and international issues so as to strengthen support and coordination. The leaders of DPRK hoped that DPRK and China maintain good cooperation in the process of the six-party talks. The leaders of Mongolia said Mongolia will work together with China to safeguard peace and stability in Northeast Asia. The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen and the GCC highly complemented China's fair position on the Middle East issue and expressed the will to strengthen communications and dialogues with China on resolving hotspot regional issues.

IV. Attending the International Energy Conference and increasing the understanding of the international community on China's energy policies

At the invitation of the King of Saudi Arabia, Vice President Xi Jinping headed a Chinese delegation to the International Energy Conference and made some remarks. Xi expounded China's views on the current international energy issue and stressed that energy issue is a global issue. The international community should establish and implement a new energy security concept featuring mutually-beneficial cooperation, diversified development, and coordinated guarantee, strengthen dialogues and cooperation, and properly deal with it in a joint manner.

Xi also introduced China's energy consumption status. He said that China's energy consumption mainly relies on domestic supply. Although China energy consumption has been growing fast, but the overall level remains low with per capita oil consumption and per capital oil import lower than the world's average. China adheres to the path of scientific development and pursues a sustainable energy strategy. We will always follow the principle of giving priority to saving energy, relying on domestic supply, paying attention to diversified development, depending upon science and technologies, protecting environment, and sticking to mutually-beneficial cooperation in energy development. China is a responsible and active participant in international energy cooperation and has made positive contributions to safeguarding international energy security. China's policy propositions are widely recognized and highly praised by the international community. The mainstream foreign media had quick and objective coverage of Vice President Xi's attendance of the conference and his remarks at the conference.

During his trip to the five Asian nations, Vice President Xi also paid visits to the staffs of the Chinese embassies, the volunteers teaching Chinese abroad, and the representatives of Chinese medical teams and workers. Xi conveyed the care of the motherland and encouraged them to work hard against difficulties, be ambassadors of good will and do things to benefit the local people.