BEIJING, Nov. 23 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's just-concluded tour of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji will promote friendly cooperation, common development and prosperity with countries in the South Pacific region and the world at large, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday.

During the 10-day trip that started on Nov. 14, Xi attended the ninth Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in the Australian port city of Brisbane, paid state visits to the three countries, and held a meeting with leaders of some Pacific island countries that have diplomatic ties with China.

The Chinese president has visited seven cities, conducted over 80 bilateral and multilateral activities, and extensively contacted and exchanged views with nearly 40 heads of state and international organizations, as well as people from all walks of life, Wang said.

He added that domestic and foreign media described Xi's trip, which came in the wake of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Beijing, as a new milestone of the Chinese diplomacy, saying it will have an important, far-reaching influence on the world's development.

GUIDING G20 COOPERATION, BOOSTING GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY

In a speech at the G20 summit, Xi said China will keep the momentum for economic growth and make greater contribution to the global economy.

He urged the world's major economies to jointly promote reforms, implement comprehensive growth strategies, and advance the transition of the world economy from cyclical recovery to sustainable growth.

Noting that the world economy has gradually moved out of the bottom in the past years but the overall recovery remains lackluster, he said the top priority for G20 members now is to coordinate macroeconomic policy, mitigate economic risks, create more jobs, and improve people's livelihood.

He added that the APEC meetings in Beijing have formulated plans for promoting the development of the Asia-Pacific region, and that G20 members have also worked out comprehensive growth strategies.

In order to realize comprehensive growth, he said, G20 members should seek and boost driving forces for sustained growth and open up a new situation that features innovative development, integrated interests and interconnected growth.

China's economic growth serves as a main engine for global economic growth, and China is one of the largest contributors to the G20's comprehensive growth strategies, Xi said.

Thanks to various domestic reforms, the Chinese economy will maintain its momentum for powerful, sustainable and balanced growth, and provide the world with greater demands and more opportunities, he added.

Xi also called on the G20 members to regard themselves as a community of common interests and shared destinies and to turn the bloc into a stabilizer of the world economy, an incubator of global growth and a propeller of global economic governance.

Other leaders attending the G20 summit applauded China's efforts in restructuring its economy and expressed their confidence that the Chinese economy will grow continuously and healthily and make greater contribution to the world economy.

UPGRADING RELATIONS WITH AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND

During his state visits to Australia and New Zealand, Xi and leaders of the two Oceanian countries agreed to upgrade their diplomatic ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

China and Australia also announced the practical conclusion of their negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA).

"It is a natural result for the two sides to jointly decide to elevate bilateral ties," Xi said during his talks with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Both as important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, China and Australia have enjoyed economic complementarity, friendly people-to-people relations, frequent contacts and extensive cooperation, Xi said.

"The two sides should proceed from the new historic point to expand exchanges, strengthen dialogues, respect each other, forge ahead and deepen cooperation, thus bringing more benefits to people in both countries and contributing more to peace and prosperity in the region and the whole world at large," Xi said.

As for the practical conclusion of the bilateral FTA talks, Xi described it as a "big event worth celebrating" in the two countries' trade and economic relations.

"The two sides have taken a pragmatic attitude to addressing the concerns of each other, and the FTA demonstrates a balance of interests and is a high-quality, high-level deal," he said.

When meeting New Zealand's Governor-General Jerry Mateparae, Xi said the China-New Zealand relationship stands at the forefront of China's relations with developed countries and sets a good example for interaction between countries of different political systems, history, culture and stages of development.

In his talks with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, he said the two countries have built high-level political mutual trust and carried out mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide range of areas on the basis of mutual understanding, inclusiveness and equality.

He suggested the two sides maintain high-level contact and form a multi-layer, multi-channel pattern of bilateral exchanges and cooperation.

Calling for an early realization of the new goal of increasing bilateral trade to 30 billion New Zealand dollars (about 23.5 billion U.S. dollars) by 2020, Xi said the two sides should further consolidate cooperation in traditional fields like agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as other areas such as financial service, information technology, energy conservation, environmental protection and bio-medicine.

These are the key areas for China's development in the future, while New Zealand enjoys competitiveness in them, he noted.

"China, with a population over 1.3 billion, has a huge market, while New Zealand's high-quality products like dairy, wool, mutton, beef and seafood are well-received in China," he said.

DEEPENING RELATIONS WITH PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES

During his state visit to Fiji, the first in history by a Chinese president, Xi said China regards the country as a sincere friend and important partner in the Pacific island region.

Noting that the next year marks the 40th anniversary of China-Fiji diplomatic ties, Xi said China is willing to strengthen exchanges with Fiji at different levels, expand practical cooperation and push for further progress in bilateral ties.

"I hope my visit can open a new chapter in bilateral friendly and cooperative relations," Xi told his Fijian counterpart, Epeli Nailatikau, who said the Chinese president's visit will definitely lift bilateral ties to a higher level.

Meanwhile, China and eight Pacific island countries also agreed to establish a strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development.

At a meeting with leaders of the eight Pacific island countries, which have established diplomatic ties with China since the 1970s, Xi expounded China's policy and measures to enhance relations with the island countries in a new era, stressing that China is a sincere friend and partner of those countries.

The Chinese people and the people of the island countries have a "natural sense of amity" toward each other and enjoy a "long history of friendship" although they are geographically far apart, Xi said.

Hailing the expanding common interests of China and the island countries, Xi said their friendly cooperation has entered a fast-track of development.

"China will attach more, not less, importance to its relations with the island countries and will make more input," he said.

Referring to his proposal on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Xi said China sincerely hopes to share experience and achievement of development with the island countries and welcomes them to take a ride on the Chinese "express train" of development.

The leaders of the island countries said they all regard China as a sincere friend and partner as the Chinese side always respects and supports the island countries.H They said China's policy and measures toward the island countries in the new era meet their actual needs and will help the countries in their push for sustainable development.

China's proposals on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank will generate important opportunities for the island countries, they noted.

The leaders pledged that their countries will boost exchanges and cooperation, cement friendship and join hands with China to strive for their dreams.