China's blueprint means opportunities, not threats (2)

During the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, China prevented the yuan from depreciating as other regional currencies did, playing a crucial role in stabilizing the regional economy.

Right after the crisis, China proposed in 2000 a free-trade agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and China, which brought about the world's biggest free trade zone for developing countries and greatly mitigated the two economies' reliance on European and U.S. demand.

China also led Asia out of the global financial crisis in 2009 and actively supported efforts to expand a regional currency swap arrangement to better guard against future crises.

With the new foreign policy blueprint, China will seek to bring more benefits to its neighbors in its future growth instead of compromising their interests.

Cementing economic bonds within Asia remains key to the region's continuous growth, as the eurozone sovereign debt woes are far from over, with a fiscal cliff threatening a fragile recovery in the U.S. economy and protectionism on the rise globally.

Internationalizing the South China Sea issue will not help resolve the disputes but can sabotage efforts to carry out friendly negotiations on the issue and hamper much-needed regional economic cooperation.

China's development road map for 2020, also made public at the 18th CPC congress, will create substantial economic opportunities for ASEAN members, if they are well seized.

China-ASEAN trade soared by about four times from 2001 to 2011, outpacing China's economic growth in approximately the same period. The CPC has announced a target to double the country's gross domestic output and per capita residents' income by 2020 from the 2010 levels.

For ASEAN members, that scenario means a boost in trade as well as a greater inflow of Chinese tourists and investors.