China committed to peaceful development

China will stay committed to peaceful development and win-win cooperation in a rather "chaotic" world, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said Friday.

Zhang made the remarks while addressing a forum held in Beijing by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to elaborate on China's foreign policy after the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China last month.

"China's overall foreign policy will not change," Zhang told the forum attended by foreign diplomats, representatives of international organizations, businesspeople and scholars of international relations.

China will adhere "to the independent foreign policy of peace and the path of peaceful development, to the win-win strategy of opening up and friendship and cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and to the construction of a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity," said the vice foreign minister.

The world is "a bit chaotic" due to uncertainties in the international economic landscape, the rise of power politics to some extent and wars raging in some countries, he said.

Zhang said China's foreign policy has effectively safeguarded the country's sovereignty, security and development interests and has contributed to world peace and stability, which is endorsed and supported by the Chinese people and has won the appreciation and respect of the international community.

"There is no reason for a right policy to be changed or abandoned," Zhang said.

"Even if it were to change, it would only improve," he added.

At the forum, Zhang highlighted the country's advocacy of a "new type of global development partnership."

"Countries need to raise awareness about human beings sharing a community of common destiny," he said, adding that a country needs to accommodate the legitimate concerns of others while pursuing its own interests.

"No country, not even the most powerful country in the world, could ensure its security without respecting and accommodating other countries' security interests," he said.

Zhang said it is not contradictory for China to stay committed to the path of peaceful development while upholding its sovereignty, security and development interests.

"What China upholds is its own legitimate rights and interests," he said, adding that China has no intention to grab from others.

Zhang said China will strengthen its good-neighborliness and friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and make sure the country's neighbors will benefit more from its development.

"As we Chinese say, 'A close neighbor is better than a distant relative,'" he said.

"In a somewhat chaotic world, Asian countries...need to cherish all the more the sound environment of peace and stability and the momentum of sustained and fast development, and should not allow any factor to disrupt, delay or destroy our development and cooperation," said the vice minister.

On the issue of the South China Sea, Zhang said China's position and proposition is "consistent and clear-cut."

"The essence of the issue is the disputes between relevant countries over the sovereignty of some islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands and the delineation of some waters in the South China Sea.