Original Author: Li Kaisheng
Writing after the April 2025 Central Conference on Work Relating to the Periphery, Li Kaisheng of the Shanghai Academy of International Studies credits President Xi Jinping’s leadership with elevating periphery diplomacy and bringing China’s relations with its periphery to their “best period in modern times.” Li underscores the periphery’s importance to China’s development, security, and diplomacy, linking the stability of China’s relations with its periphery to Chinese-style modernization and resistance to U.S. containment. He identifies Xi’s principle of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness as the foundation of periphery diplomacy, expanded through five new dimensions, and portrays head-of-state diplomacy as essential to fostering trust, managing disputes, and advancing flagship projects.