President Hu Jintao is back in Beijing Thursday after an eight-day visit to three Southeast Asian countries.

Coming shortly after Premier Wen Jiabao's South Asia tour, Hu had a rewarding journey.

The term "strategic partnership" was eye-catching in media reports covering both visits. They provided an excellent opportunity to put China's vital relationships with these countries, namely Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India, onto a stable and long-term footing.

The relationships are and will be based on trust, understanding, neighborliness and a mutually beneficial and comprehensive partnership with the underlying philosophy of "prospering thy neighbor."

Forging a friendly attitude towards neighboring countries remains a touchstone of our entire foreign policy.

In Indonesia, President Hu initiated the Sino-Indonesian strategic partnership. In early April, Premier Wen started China's strategic partnership with India.

The two visits offer a glaring example of our strategy of being on friendly terms with our neighbors.

China's strategic partnerships with neighboring nations were rare in the 1990s. Then the term "strategic partnership" only really applied to Sino-Russian ties.

Establishing a strategic partnership shows a more stable, mature and harmonious relationship between two countries. It reveals the breadth of cooperation, which may mean collaboration on all fronts.

Such a partnership means a forward-looking relationship. It does not mean alignment nor is directed against any third country.

The partnership means that two countries have a high profile definition of their relationship, which can benefit both and reflect their diplomatic mindsets.

Though carrying the same name, such a partnership between China and other countries varies depending on specific conditions and differences. The China-India strategic partnership symbolizes the two countries' willingness to increase mutual trust and cooperation. The partnership between China and some regions like Latin America and Europe gives more prominence to cooperation in such fields as trade and energy.

In recent years Chinese leaders have been playing a key role in the region such as in the series of "ASEAN-plus" meetings. In 2003 China and the 10 ASEAN governments declared a "strategic partnership for peace and prosperity" in Bali. China formalized its accession to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, renouncing the use of force in the region in favor of negotiation and consultation. Strategic partnership includes, among other things, goals to increase trade and a new security dialogue.

The themes China is bringing to multilateral diplomacy in East and South Asia -- cooperative security, a greater role for the United Nations, "democratization" of international affairs, free trade, more attention to transnational issues including crime and narcotics, and non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries -- have caught the attention of our neighbors.

Summing up China's approach, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing characterized it in 2003 as "good neighbor, safe neighbor and enriched neighbor."

We share many borders. We face similar challenges and opportunities and share aspirations, as developing countries, to achieve economic prosperity and higher living standards for our peoples.

We share the responsibility of making our region a better place and becoming better global citizens.

New challenges and problems are ahead that will continue to test the resolve of the partnerships.

Positive engagement from all sides is needed to make the partnerships work as effectively as possible.

(China Daily April 28, 2005)