The year 2006 is a year of "harvest" in China's diplomacy, during which China has made all-round headway in developing relations with world powers, neighboring countries, developing countries and in its multilateral diplomacy, a senior Chinese diplomat said in BeijingTuesday.

Wu Jianmin, president of the Foreign Affairs College and former Chinese Ambassador to France, made the remarks when commenting on China's diplomacy in 2006.

"We have seen progress this year in relations between China and major world powers including the United States, Japan and Russia," Wu said.

The development of China-U.S. relations is a shining point and the upcoming bilateral economic strategic dialogue is the first of its kind to promote economy, Wu said.

On Taiwan issue, the United States have sent clear signals of warning whenever the Taiwan secessionists appeared to make troubles this year, Wu said.

"This shows that it is a consensus to maintain stability across Taiwan straits," he added.

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China marked a turning point in bilateral ties and ended a five-year political stalemate between the two countries, Wu said.

Major events in China's diplomacy with neighboring countries include the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit and the China-ASEAN commemorative summit.

Wu said the success of these two summits has demonstrated the important progress in China's relations with its neighboring countries.

The China-Africa summit has aroused world attention which marks a new phase in the development of China-Africa relations, he noted.

Multilateral diplomacy is a platform for enhancing a harmonious world, he said. As an outcome of China's multilateral diplomacy, Margaret Chan from China has been elected as World Health Organization chief, he added.

Chinese President Hu Jintao has put forward a concept of "harmonious world" in UN Assembly in 2005.

Guding by this concept, China's diplomacy has scored a harvest and stepped onto a new stage in 2006, Wu said.

Source: Xinhua