Full coverage: 5th CICA Foreign Ministers' Meeting

CICA is a very young organization. Its first summit was held in 2002. Let's take a look at what CICA is, and what makes it special.

CICA, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, is a multilateral forum for promoting peace, security and stability in the continent.

So, what makes it special? And why is it important to China?

Firstly, CICA is so far the only multilateral security mechanism that covers almost all of Asia. Since first proposed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1992, the forum now has 26 member states and 13 observers. Its influence extends to some 90% percent of the continent, and even spills over to North Africa and Eastern Europe.

Secondly, CICA has the characteristic of an "Asian initiative", which values equality among members and led by small countries. These have distinguished CICA from other security mechanisms, which are commonly dominated by super powers. It also makes CICA a particularly suitable platform for Asian countries to build trust.

Thirdly, Chinese President Xi Jinping is a strong advocate of the forum and proposed what he called the "New Asia Security Concept" at 2014’s summit, which seeks to establish "common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security in Asia". The new concept set principles and targets for the member states to conduct security cooperation and urge them to collectively safeguard peace in the region.

China’s strong support for CICA comes with reasons, as the country is seeking a peaceful rise but at the same time facing security threats and disputes in its neighbourhood.

And this challenge has become even more acute in recent years. China is pushing its "Belt and Road" initiative to promote cooperation in trade and ecomony, as well as in fight against a growing threat from extremism, terrorism, and separatism in the region. The CICA Summit gives China an opportunity to promote regional exchanges to address both security demands and economic ties.