International relations experts said at a forum Sunday the unique concept of "peaceful development" will continue to define China's international strategy, despite challenges and others' doubts.

Over the past decade, China has worked with developed and developing countries under the framework of the "peaceful development" concept, which emphasizes pragmatic foreign policy and mutual benefit, said Zheng Bijian, a political scientist and former vice president of the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at the fourth World Forum on China Studies in Shanghai.

"In the second decade of this century, China will deepen the understanding of this concept," Zheng said. "It is about trying to find the common ground of the world's different parties and forging different communities of interest with different countries and regions."

The country hopes the concept is recognized by more countries, he added.

When defining the concept of "peaceful development," Wang Chen, director of the Information Office of the State Council, told the forum China's own development requires a peaceful international environment and that China's growth contributes to world peace.

Under the peaceful development concept, China will need to balance its domestic needs with the interests of people around the world, Wang said.

China's development mainly depends on itself while it follows the trend of globalization and works for mutual benefit and common development with other countries, he said.

"When China's economic strength grows fast and its international influence swells, it is natural China will receive both positive and negative responses," said Wang Jisi, dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University.

"So long as the country has a clear understanding of its own reality, the basic strategy will not be affected by what others say," he added.

As Chinese leaders have noted on many occasions, China is a developing country and thus its basic strategy will not change, he said.

The past decade has shown that the peaceful development concept works for China and does not harm the world, he said.

Prof. Zheng Yongnian, director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, told Xinhua China has shown no indication of moving away from the peaceful development concept.

"The way peaceful development is realized may be adjusted as the international environment changes," he said.

Initiated in 2004, the two-day biennial forum sponsored by the State Council Information Office and the Shanghai Municipal Government aims to nurture new views and approaches for China studies while promoting mutual understanding and academic exchange between Chinese and overseas scholars.

This year's forum, with the theme "China Integrating into a Diverse World," attracted more than 280 scholars from more than 20 countries and regions.

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