The Chinese have always believed that "You yourself desire rank and standing; then help others to get rank and standing". We care for the people of the world and strive for the greater good while pursuing our own development. China has benefited from the international community for its development, and it has never forgotten to provide it with more and better public goods in return.

We will build a high-quality Belt and Road together with our partners. The Belt and Road Initiative is based on the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and is guided by the Silk Road spirit characterized by peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit. With a focus on policy coordination, connectivity of infrastructure, unimpeded trade, financial integration and closer people-to-people ties, it has transformed from ideas into action, from vision into reality, from a conceptual initiative into a globally popular public product (see Box 10). In November 2016, the United Nations adopted a resolution welcoming economic cooperation initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative. In March 2017, the United Nations Security Council called on all countries in its resolution to promote the initiative and the building of a global community of shared future. The Belt and Road Initiative originated in China, but the opportunities and achievements belong to the whole world. According to a World Bank research report, the initiative will help 7.6 million people out of extreme poverty and 32 million out of moderate poverty. It will increase trade in participating countries by 2.8 to 9.7 percent, global trade by 1.7 to 6.2 percent and global income by 0.7 to 2.9 percent.19 The initiative is a veritable road to resource sharing, shared prosperity and common development.

China is building platforms for multilateral dialogue and cooperation. We firmly support multilateralism and advocate that international affairs should be discussed and handled by all countries. China has set up platforms for multilateral dialogue and cooperation in political, economic, security, cultural and other fields. To promote multilateral cooperation, we have established a number of global and regional multilateral platforms including: Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, China International Import Expo, Hongqiao International Economic Forum, Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, China-Arab States Cooperation Forum, China-CELAC Forum, Boao Forum for Asia, China-ASEAN Expo, China-Arab States Expo, China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, and World Internet Conference. China has hosted the CICA Summit in Shanghai, APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting in Beijing, G20 Hangzhou Summit, BRICS Summit in Xiamen, and SCO Qingdao Summit, marking a series of pioneering, leading and institutional achievements. We have initiated the establishment of international financial cooperation institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, making a growing contribution to the inclusive development of the world. The China-initiated SCO has played an important role in safeguarding regional and world peace and stability.

China actively participates in international and regional affairs. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China strives to contribute wisdom and strength to the settlement of major international and regional flashpoints. China has worked to promote the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula, Iran nuclear, Syria, and Afghanistan issues, and is committed to promoting dialogue and consultation and seeking solutions acceptable to all parties concerned. We have actively participated in the climate governance process of the United Nations and other multilateral platforms, and firmly supported and promoted the implementation of the Paris Agreement. We have promoted and implemented the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the Security Council counter-terrorism resolutions, and actively participated in international counter-terrorism actions. We have strengthened international exchanges and cooperation in energy, food and network security, and in the polar regions, outer space and the oceans.

China has actively provided aid to countries in need. As a developing country itself, China identifies with other developing countries in terms of the poverty and suffering they are experiencing and provides them with assistance within its capacity. China upholds the greater good and pursues shared interests, adheres to the principles of mutual respect, equality, keeping promises, mutual benefit, and offering the utmost assistance within its capacity. It provides financial, technical, personnel and intellectual assistance to developing countries without any political strings attached, so as to help recipient countries strengthen their capacity for independent development, and to make a greater contribution to promoting their economic and social development and people's wellbeing and achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

4. China's development provides experience and reference for other developing countries

It is not easy for a country to find a development path suited to its own national conditions. In the recent past, many developing countries have worked hard in the hope of making themselves prosperous and strong, but few have really found the right path and achieved good development. Some countries blindly copied or were forced to adopt the Western model, but they did not achieve economic development or political stability. Instead they fell into social unrest, economic crisis, governance paralysis, and even endless civil war.

Over decades of arduous exploration, China has always taken its own road and formed its own development path. China's success has boosted the confidence of other developing countries in their ability to achieve prosperity, expanded their routes towards modernization, and provided experience and reference to countries that want to speed up their development and maintain their independence, enabling them to choose a path in line with their own national conditions.

Copying or imitating other countries offers no way forward. The greatest inspiration from China's development is: What kind of path a country takes should be based on the experience of other countries, but more importantly on its own reality, and should be decided by its own people in accordance with its own history, cultural traditions, and level of economic and social development. There is no such thing as one single path or model that is universally applicable. Countries can learn from each other. But modernization is not equal to Westernization, and cannot be mechanically carried out or achieved through the same model. Whether the path of a country is the right one depends on whether this path can solve the historic and practical problems facing the country, whether it can improve people's wellbeing, and whether it can win the recognition and support of the people.

It is the right of every sovereign state to choose its own development path. No country can impose its own model on others, let alone forcibly subvert the governments and political systems of other countries. China respects the different paths chosen by other countries. It does not "import" foreign models, nor "export" the Chinese model, and will never require other countries to replicate its practices. By furthering its own experience, China will continue to explore the laws of modernization, governance and human society, strengthen exchanges with other countries in state governance, and share experience to jointly realize good governance.

5. China will never seek hegemony

It is true that in the past, countries that grew strong have sought hegemony, but this is not a historical law. The conclusion is bound to be absurd and distorted if one judges China against the experience of some Western powers and applies their logic to China. China's pursuit of peaceful development is not diplomatic rhetoric, or an act of expediency, or a strategic ambiguity. Rather, it showcases China's confidence in thought and readiness for practice, and represents China's unswerving strategic choice and solemn commitment. China will never pursue hegemony or expansion, nor will it seek to create spheres of influence, no matter how international situation changes, how China develops itself.

China takes the road of peaceful development, which comes from the profound heritage of Chinese civilization. Chinese civilization originated from inland and farming; it is a moderate and defensive civilization. With a history dating back more than 5,000 years, Chinese culture contains the cosmological view of the unity of man and nature, the international view of harmony between all countries, the social view of harmony in diversity, and the moral view of kindness and benevolence. Since ancient times, China has advocated that "the strong should not oppress the weak, and the rich should not abuse the poor", and "do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you", knowing that "a warlike state, however big it may be, will eventually perish". The Chinese nation does not have the gene to invade others and dominate the world. From the mid-19th century, China was abused by the Western powers and left with indelible memories of the suffering brought about by war and instability. It will never impose the suffering it has endured on other nations.

China's peaceful development comes from its understanding of the conditions for achieving development goals. Development is China's top priority. Over the past 70 years, China has benefited from a peaceful and stable external environment, and in the future, it also needs such an external environment. The key to China's success lies in concentrating on running its own affairs well and realizing the mutual promotion of peace and development. Expansion and hegemony go against China's interests and the will of the people. It has always been China's unswerving national will to strive for a peaceful international environment favorable to its own development, and to better safeguard world peace and promote common development through its own.

China's peaceful development comes from a profound understanding of the general trend of world development. Today, countries are becoming a close-knit community of shared interests and future, and peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit are the trends of the times. Any country, big or small, strong or weak, can achieve sustainable development only if it participates in international cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. In contrast, pursuing hegemony and militarism will only consume national strength and lead to decline. In human history, the struggle for hegemony of the major powers has resulted in frequent wars, loss of life, setbacks for humanity, and even the retrogression of human civilization. The lessons have been painful and profound. Peace, development and stability, rather than war, poverty and chaos, are the true aspirations of the people of all countries. China's path of peaceful development is in line with the trend of history and the general trend of the world.

China has the right to development, and its people have the right to pursue a better life. As a country that suffered abuse and humiliation in the past, China aims to win dignity, security and a better life for its people through its own development. China naturally develops and becomes stronger, but does not want to threaten, challenge or replace any other country in the process, nor will it seek hegemony. China's future is in its own hands. It is the Chinese people who decide their own destiny. No one can deprive the Chinese people of their right to pursue a better life. No one can stop China from moving forward.

China is firmly committed to peaceful development and hopes that all countries in the world will do likewise. Only when countries take peaceful development paths can we develop and live peacefully together. China will never develop itself at the expense of others, nor will it give up its legitimate rights and interests. No foreign country should expect China to trade its core interests or to accept anything that is damaging to China's own sovereignty, security and development interests.