China became a more active player in the international arena last year. 

The country effectively participated in preventing various kinds of crises and challenges in the realms of international security, economy and energy.

One of the most prominent characteristics of China's diplomacy is its conscious shift of diplomatic emphasis from crisis treatment to crisis prevention.

Since the September 11 terrorist event in 2001, China, like other major countries in the world, has put crisis management on its diplomatic agenda. But the subsequent occurrence of the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, anti-terror, the energy issue have all made it more necessary and urgent for China to take the diplomatic initiative to forestall potential crises.

The surrounding security environment China faced allowed no optimism.

Merely three years ago, there still existed controversies between China and India over a wide range of issues. Indian-Pakistani relations were also being beset with crises. "China threat" talk still ran high in Southeast Asian countries. The United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) were in uncompromising conflicts over nuclear issues.

Later, the United States advanced its military presence in Central Asia in the wake of a military campaign in Afghanistan, and the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula seemed to be more critical.

All these have hammered home to the Chinese leadership that the country should adopt a more active diplomatic approach and take necessary measures to prevent crises from happening.

As far as its ties with the United States are concerned, China has fully realized that the best way to effectively prevent a crisis and reduce and control negative factors between them is to deepen and broaden bilateral relations.

To this end, China has strengthened its economic cooperation with the United States.

With economic and trade ties between China and the United States becoming increasingly interdependent, the latter has fully realized the higher cost if it took some insensible measures towards the former. Now the voice of dealing with relations with China in a more sober approach has run higher than ever in the United States.

China has also raised its international status a lot through playing an active role in anti-terror and anti-proliferation campaigns, which have helped some countries, including the United States, change their bias against China.

The establishment of dialogue mechanisms and the strengthening of diplomacy between states have also proved effective in preventing crises and enhancing common grounds.

Over the past year, China's leaders have made frequent exchanges of visits with their counterparts in the United States, the European Union and Russia, establishing and perfecting their dialogue mechanisms in diplomatic, economic and military fields.

These moves have not only helped enhance mutual trust and cooperation, but have also been conducive to eliminating misunderstandings and preventing crises.

For example, the establishment of hot lines between Chinese and American highest-level leaders and the foreign ministerial-level communication mechanism has played an important role in stabilizing and advancing Sino-US ties.

Besides, to remove the international community's mistrust and misgivings towards itself, China has taken as an important diplomatic task to actively integrate itself into the world's mechanisms and frameworks instead of passive explanations.

China's dynamic economic momentum and bright prospects have served as an effective instrument in raising its international image.

Due to many years of rapid economic growth, China has now become one of the world's key growth engines. Its economic development is related closely with the interests of other countries nowadays. The charm of its enormous market potential has made the "China threat" fallacy increasingly unpopular.

Facts have proven the Chinese new leadership's pragmatic diplomatic approach and the country's increasing economic temptation have helped solve issues and disputes with neighbors.

Meanwhile, China also exhibited its diplomatic ideas and skills through international organizations and conferences.

At the informal summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation late last year, China drew more spotlight than any other country with the enormous opportunities its economy provided for all participants.

Also, China included energy cooperation into its diplomatic work.

Following the Iraq War, more and more Chinese have been conscious of the importance of energy security and the international struggle for strategic material.

China fully realized that its economic growth could slow and even stop in the absence of sufficient energy supply.

The country has thus begun to make a thorough review of its past petroleum security strategy in the wake of the Iraq War. And an all-dimensional energy diplomacy has gradually taken shape.

Over the past two years, China has implemented a diversified energy supply strategy, setting up energy relations in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, actively carrying out energy cooperation with Britain, Russia and others.

More importantly, China is building energy diplomacy into a systematic project and global strategy. The country is now straightforward when talking about its energy interests throughout the world. And its ties with a number of countries are warming up due to their energy cooperation.

Following its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), China has seen an increasing number of trade disputes with other countries while enjoying the benefits the membership has brought.

This has driven home to China that passively acting as a bystander of international rules does not help settle its economic disputes with others, and it should seek interests for itself by gaining a bigger say in international bodies and the making of new rules.

To solve various kinds of economic rows from the roots, the Chinese Government has conducted bilateral dialogues with more countries to remove itself from the list of non-market economic states. It has also cooperated with some countries within the WTO framework to change and eliminate related articles detrimental to China's economic development and the interests of developing countries.

Currently, China has not only accepted a number of established international systems and rules, but has also played as a more mature and adept actor on the diplomatic stage.

(China Daily January 21, 2005)