BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese ambassadors say they are upbeat about building on historic achievements to open new prospects for China's relations with neighboring countries, after a key meeting outlined goals and tasks for the next phase of the country's neighborhood work.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries and striving to open new ground for the country's neighborhood work, at a central conference on work related to neighboring countries held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday.

China's relations with neighboring countries are at the best level seen in modern times, and they are entering a critical phase in which regional dynamics and global transformations are deeply intertwined, the conference noted.

"China always places its neighborhood diplomacy at the top of its diplomatic agenda, and ASEAN is the priority in this neighborhood diplomacy," Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said.

Chinese and Malaysian leaders have reached a consensus on building a community with a shared future, and China-Malaysia trade accounts for one-fifth of China-ASEAN trade. In addition to the East Coast Rail Link project and other joint infrastructure projects, both countries are cooperating in such fields as 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, electric vehicles and photovoltaic products.

"Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, China-Malaysia relations will further grow, and cooperation between China and ASEAN will also expand," the ambassador said.

China-Central Asia relations have seen leapfrog progress with the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnerships between China and the five Central Asian countries, the launch of the China-Central Asia mechanism, and joint efforts to promote the growth of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), according to Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Han Chunlin.

President Xi's vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and his three global initiatives offer important guidance for the China-Central Asia mechanism and SCO development, Han noted.

As a pilot project under the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has seen more than 25 billion U.S. dollars in direct investment and created more than 230,000 jobs. It has raised the level of China-Pakistan cooperation and promoted Pakistan's economic and social development, according to Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong.

"We will continue to promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, make greater contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and safeguard China's overseas interests," Jiang said.

China continues to bring development opportunities and certainty to its neighboring countries through its own development, said Shen Minjuan, Chinese ambassador to Mongolia. "In Mongolia, people remember President Xi's offer of welcoming them to ride China's fast train of development."

The 21st century will undoubtedly be the Asian Century, and China's diplomacy with its neighboring countries holds immense potential, Shen said, adding that Asia should remain stable and thriving, thereby supporting China's modernization drive.

China and ASEAN have been each other's largest trading partners for five consecutive years. ASEAN regards China as an indispensable partner for regional countries to achieve modernization, and China firmly supports ASEAN's centrality in regional cooperation, said Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Hou Yanqi.

China encourages ASEAN to forge close ties with the SCO and BRICS, together practice genuine multilateralism and open regionalism, and safeguard international fairness and justice as well as the interests of developing countries, Hou said.

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, noted that the world today is undergoing both transformation and upheaval, and that changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace.

"The CPC Central Committee exercises overall leadership, maintains strong strategic resolve, and responds to challenges with steadfastness and prudence. This is our greatest source of confidence in advancing our diplomatic endeavors, and the root cause of the respect and growing influence China gains on the global stage," Fu said.

"We must unwaveringly uphold the vision of a global community with a shared future, continuously advance the reform and improvement of global governance, and safeguard the interests of developing countries," Fu said.

The ambassadors expressed opposition to the United States' indiscriminate tariffs on all of its trading partners, saying that China and neighboring countries should oppose the fallacy of "might makes right" and work together to safeguard international fairness and justice, as well as the legitimate rights and interests of all countries.  ■