China stresses peaceful development after US report

BEIJING - China on Wednesday stressed its adherence to peaceful development in response to a U.S. intelligence report predicting that China will surpass the United States to become the world's largest economy before 2030.

"China will unswervingly pursue a way of peaceful development. China's development aims at making greater contributions toward peace and development of mankind, as well as a happy life for its people, instead of overwhelming others or scrambling for world dominance," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

Hong made the remarks at a regular press briefing while commenting on the report "Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds" issued on Monday by the U.S. National Intelligence Council, an analytical arm of the government's Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The report said China's economy is likely to surpass that of the United States a few years before 2030; however, it added that China may not replace the United States on a global level.

"Despite the remarkable achievements made since reform and opening-up, China is still the world's biggest developing country and has a long way to go in realizing socialist modernization. We have a clear understanding of that," the spokesman said.

China will continue to focus on economic construction, deepen economic reforms and push strategic economic restructuring forward so as to achieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, Hong said.

The spokesman added that the peace, stability and development of the Asia-Pacific region and the world requires the joint efforts and cooperation of all countries.

China has always adhered to an open and inclusive foreign policy and persisted in building good relations with neighboring countries, Hong said.

China is ready to join hands with other countries to promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world as a whole, Hong said.