At the start of 2015, the Quartet leaders and 20 foreign ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) gathered in Beijing for the inaugural ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum. The meeting adopted three outcome documents, i.e. Beijing Declaration, China-Latin America and Caribbean Countries Cooperation Plan (2015-19) and Institutional Arrangements and Operating Rules of China-CELAC Forum. It also agreed on the objectives and measures for advancing cooperation in thirteen priority areas. This landmark event represents a solid first step in cooperation between China and Latin American and Caribbean states as a group and the latest foray of China's major-power diplomacy.

Today, many in the world are impressed with Beijing's diplomatic activism and the unique vision, style and spirit of China's new leadership. Things can be traced to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in late 2012, when China elected its new leaders. Since then, the central leadership headed by General Secretary Xi Jinping has studied China's domestic and international interests, adapted to the changing situation and put forward new thinking concerning China's diplomacy. Conscious of China's growing responsibilities, Xi and his team have broken new ground in diplomatic practice and sought a new pathway to great-power status.

First, China has begun to champion a new type of international relations based on "win-win cooperation" while concurrently making efforts to expand common interests with other countries to build a community of shared outcome. Equipped with a capacity of development among the highest in the world, China is experimenting with something no major power has tried before: making win-win cooperation the basic tenet of international relations. This new approach still keeps with the trend of economic globalization and greater democracy in the international community. Under the new leadership, China has articulately practiced a more balanced approach to upholding principles and pursuing interests, where more stock is put in good faith, friendship, justice and moral strength.

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