President Xi Jinping begins a four-nation trip on Friday. As his first international trip since he took over the helm of the Party and the country, Xi is expected to make his first marks on the country's foreign policy and turn a new chapter in China's interaction with the rest of the world.

Xi's trip from March 22 to 30 will take him to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo. He is also expected to attend the fifth BRICS Leaders Summit in the South African city of Durban.

While the rest of the world will be interested to know where China stands on major international issues and why, Xi is expected to underscore China's commitments to peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with other nations.

Xi's trip demonstrates China's enthusiasm for actively engaging with other countries as both a responsible partner and a reliable friend.

The country has learned from its interaction with the rest of the world in recent years that, while global prosperity and stability are strongly reliant on China's development, its development cannot be separated from the world economy. To realize its goal of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, the country needs a more favorable external environment.

Hence, the new leadership's constancy in pursuing a foreign policy of peace is beyond doubt. The country will continue to work with other countries on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual respect, at both bilateral or multilateral levels, and it will continue to make contributions to world peace and development.

Given that there have been concerns and even suspicions about how China will project its power in the world arena, China's new leaders, Xi included, have reiterated on several occasions that the country will neither pose a threat to others nor seek hegemony.

Deepening nation-to-nation cooperation and expanding people-to-people exchanges are the best way to facilitate others' understanding of China's stance. Xi once said the solid foundation for nation-to-nation ties hinges on the profundity of the friendship between their peoples. As well as high-level meetings, he is expected to make time in busy schedule for interaction with the public.

It is heartening to see Xi is promoting people-to-people exchanges at the very start of his term in office as this is the best way to correct misunderstandings and build trust.

(China Daily 03/22/2013 page8)