China's global outlook on foreign affairs pays dividends

A week of summitry has showcased China's new approach to foreign policy. It was reflected in contrasts, such as between China's broad engagement and Russia's increasing isolation; between the historic Sino-US carbon emissions deal and the climate-change denial of Australia's G20 host Tony Abbott; and between Beijing's wooing of the Myanmar regime and demonstrative support from President Barack Obama for former detainee and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

But the biggest contrast of all has emerged between the foreign policy style of President Xi Jinping and that of his predecessors.

In the space of a week that began with Xi hosting the leaders of 20 regional powers at the Asia-Pacific Co-operation Forum summit, he won their backing for a plan for an Asia-Pacific free-trade framework and closed the climate-change agreement, attended the G20 summit in Brisbane where he concluded a 10-year negotiation of a major free-trade agreement with Australia, and hosted a meeting of Pacific island-state leaders in Fiji before jetting off to New Zealand. Meanwhile Premier Li Keqiang attended the Asean summit in Myanmar and cemented neighbourly ties with the host through deals worth US$8 billion.

That broad canvas is a considerable departure from the foreign policy track followed over the previous 20 years by past presidents Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin , under whom top-level diplomacy tended to be focused on relations with the US, Europe and other big powers.

Now Beijing is focusing on furthering and defending China's interests on a global scale across continents and regions. Visits by Xi to India, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, among others, are evidence of that. Xi and Li have used a carrot-and-stick approach, consisting of ramped up programmes of investment, aid and trade deals, and a more assertive stance on territorial and sovereignty issues. They are right to do so, given China's need for diversified markets for its exports and the depth of its financial reserves.

Such broad engagement can do no harm to China's goal of a peaceful ascent in the region. It contrasts with the isolation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, driven by confrontation over the Ukrainian conflict. If Putin could use some of China's more constructive approach, the world would be a safer place.