In a few days President Hu Jintao will fly to the US, Canada and Mexico for two weeks of diplomacy. China's relationships with the three countries and the world summit at the UN will top his agenda.

The visits will represent the culmination of Hu's active and realistic diplomacy this year.

Hu has been busy with tours to foreign lands. In April he visited three Southeast Asian countries -- Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. In June and July he traveled to Russia, the Kazakh capital Astana for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperative Organization leaders and attended the G8 summit in Scotland.

His upcoming autumn diplomatic endeavor shows China's desire to develop friendly relations with the rest of the world.

Hu's visits come amid signs of warming relations between China and the three countries.

This will be Hu's first tour to the US since he took the helm of the Communist Party of China in November 2002. He visited as vice president earlier that year.

China and the US share plenty of common ground in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large. Still, big differences and suspicions remain between the nations. China is very concerned about the US military and its security cooperation with Taiwan. The US misunderstands the strategic purposes of a growing China. As a result, many politicians and conservative scholars in the US believe China is a strategic threat to their country.

Exchanges of visits between top leaders of the two countries help clarify policies and clear minds of doubts and misgivings. They are expected to expand areas of common interests and cooperation to the full, and settle differences.

Leaders of the two countries have met every year. US President George W. Bush is expected to visit China later this year. High hopes are pinned on such exchanges of visits that will serve to deepen understanding and create more areas for cooperation.

The two countries have built channels of contact at all levels, with a view to enhancing mutual understanding and trust.

The more they interact, the better they will understand each other. This, in a sense, helps remove doubts and avoid conflicts.

Hu will join more than 100 heads of states and governments at the summit of the UN for celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the world body.

They are supposed to bring with them consensus on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's reform proposals to give the world organization a much-needed facelift.

Loud voices from every corner of the world reflect the sense of urgency regarding the organization's future. It needs to be refashioned to keep up with changing circumstances.

The UN is the foremost embodiment of multilateralism. Reforms should not change its fundamental values. Deliberations at the headquarters of the world organization should chart the correct road for its future.

Hu's journeys next month epitomize China's diplomatic sophistication -- a more nuanced and constructive style.

The active approach shows the government's sincerity and efforts to inject new momentum into relationships with the US, Canada and Mexico.

Discussions will focus on where common interests overlap and cooperation is possible.

Autumn is a season for harvesting fruit. Hu's tour has aroused expectations for tangible rewards.

(China Daily August 29, 2005)