CRI听力:2016 - a year of notable achievements in China's diplomacy

Through its "Belt and Road" initiative, the Chinese government has been able to expand transcontinental connectivity across Asia and Europe, offering investment opportunities in overseas construction and implementing structural reforms to boost global economic growth.

2016 saw China taking an increasingly leading role in international affairs and governance.

In September, the country successfully hosted the annual G20 summit in Hangzhou, specifically inviting a number of emerging economies into the sessions to give a stronger voice to the developing world.

2016 also saw China ratify the Paris agreement on climate change, submitting its plan to the United Nations along with the United States.

While the two countries have had their differences on a number of issues, China and the U.S. have become global leaders in the fight to keep climate change in check.

This has helped solidify ties with the U.S. based on the new model of major-country relations.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke highly of China's role on the world stage in his final news conference of 2016, in which he said that "no other bilateral relationship carries more significance than the U.S.-China relationship."

That sentiment has been echoed by Chinese Ambassador to the US, Cui Tiankai.

"China and the U.S. should be partners in cooperation, not adversaries in confrontation. Both countries will stand to win if we cooperate with each other, and both will stand to lose if we have confrontation."

When it came to nuclear security, Chinese President Xi Jinping underlined its importance in April while attending the fourth Nuclear Summit in Washington, D.C.

Deputy Director of China's National Nuclear Security Technology Center, Yang Zhimin, says China has already developed joint programs in the field with the U.S. and that similar plans are also in the works with other countries.

"We have designed training and exchange programs to take place this coming May, and we are going to open a training session on nuclear energy quality control and security with other Asia-Pacific countries."

On the contentious issue of the South China Sea, China and the Philippines were able to put their differences aside in the latter half of the year, significantly dialing down the temperature in the hotly contested region.

In October, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the eighth annual BRICS summit in India, where he pledged China's continuing commitment to deepening cooperation with its four other partners in the grouping - namely Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.

"China is a staunch supporter and participant in the BRICS group, and sees BRICS cooperation as one of its diplomatic priorities. We believe that BRICS cooperation will promote world peace, stability and prosperity."

China now holds the rotating chair of BRICS this year.