He said China would continue to follow "the basic principle of building friendship and partnership with neighbouring countries."

"We will work with neighbouring countries to foster a peaceful, stable, inclusive and open regional environment pursuing win-win cooperation," Jiechi said while explaining Chinese Asian policy during the Fourth Session of National Peoples Congress in the Great Hall of the People, according to a message received here on Sunday.

Pakistan and China are celebrating 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations hence the current year is expected to take their long and enduring partnership to new heights of cooperation in diverse fields including communications.

In line with its policy of forging relations with neighbouring countries, he said Chinese leaders visited a lot of Asian countries and had broad and in-depth exchange of views with their foreign counterparts on how to further deepen mutual trust and bilateral cooperation, and much important agreement was reached.

He said as a result of these visits mutual trust was increasingly deepened. " This year, we will continue to increase political mutual trust, he said referring to the 60th, 50th and 20th anniversaries of the establishment of Chinese diplomatic ties with Pakistan, the Lao PDR and Brunei respectively. This year is also the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the dialogue relationship between China and ASEAN. Moreover, this year is the year of friendly exchanges between China and ASEAN and between China and India, said the message.

“We will hold colorful activities and work with other Asian countries to deepen the friendship and mutual understanding between our peoples and pursue common development in Asia. We will also vigorously promote regional integration," said the Chinese foreign minister.

Jiechi said Asian countries worked together and did fairly well in overcoming the impact of the financial crisis on Asia. "The Asian economy as a whole grew by 8.2% last year. It has become an important engine in driving world economic recovery."

The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has been fully established, marking a good beginning, he said. China would further deepen such cooperation and mount efforts to advance the practical cooperation between ASEAN and China, Japan and the ROK, he said.