Wang Wenbin, research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies

China will unswervingly follow the road of peaceful development. This is a strategic choice the Chinese Government and people have made in light of development trends and their own fundamental interests. In his report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), General Secretary Hu Jintao discussed China's foreign affairs under the heading of "Unswervingly Following the Path of Peaceful Development," showing peaceful development has become the guiding principle of China's diplomacy. Critics abroad, however, remain suspicious about the country's future course. They have touted a so-called "China threat" for various reasons, even asserting it is impossible for China to develop peacefully. In this context, whether peaceful development is valid and how to pursue peaceful development are questions China's diplomatic authorities must answer in both theory and practice.

Reasons for choosing peaceful development road

In brief, a road of peaceful development means China aims to create a peaceful international environment to develop itself and promote world peace through its own development. China's decision to follow this road is grounded in its national conditions as well as in the international situation it faces.

As far as national conditions are concerned, China is a country with a long history and deep-rooted cultural traditions. The Chinese nation has always valued harmony and peace. Traditional beliefs such as "peace is most precious," "harmony in diversity" and "coexistence in peace" have helped shape the values and behavioral patterns of contemporary Chinese. This validates China's peaceful development from a historical perspective.

China is a developing country with a population of more than 1.3 billion. It must—and cannot do anything but—rely mainly on the Chinese people to turn itself into a modernized country and advance the well-being of the Chinese. The Chinese Government and people regard the modernization drive as their most fundamental interest. In this light, they have been devoted to preserving a peaceful and stable international environment, as a staunch force safeguarding world peace. This is the reason why China seeks peaceful development in today's world.

In addition, China is a socialist country, and the pursuit of peace is an essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics. China "strives to safeguard world peace and promote the cause of human progress," says the Chinese Constitution. China has promised the world it will not seek hegemony, expansion or superpower status. It is the only nuclear-armed country that has pledged not to be the first to use nuclear weapons, and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against nuclear-free countries or regions. This shows China's political system requires the country follows the road of peaceful development.

From an international perspective, the world has shown a strong desire for stability since the end of the Cold War. Despite conflicts and wars in some regions, peace and development remain the overriding features of the times. The pursuit of peace, development and cooperation has become an irresistible trend. In this era, China is obliged to adhere to peaceful development.

At the same time, with world multi-polarization accelerating, economic globalization deepening, and science and technology rapidly advancing, countries with different social systems and at different levels of development have become interdependent. They are no longer engaged in a zero-sum game. Dialogue and cooperation have become the main means for countries to safeguard national interests. Against this backdrop, it is possible for developing countries to achieve revitalization through peaceful means. Despite lingering hegemony and power politics, the international balance of power is evolving in a direction conducive to world peace and development. Hegemonic forces have become less and less able to contain emerging countries.

History has presented opportunities for China to achieve peaceful development. Peaceful development is not only feasible but also the only valid road for China to realize national renewal and prosperity.

Differences

China's road of peaceful development is totally different from the trajectories of major Western powers. These countries rose to be world powers through expansion and war in the modern era. Peaceful development is an innovation in the history of human civilizations and displays distinctive Chinese characteristics. This can be seen from the following aspects:

—Enduring peace is a basic prerequisite to China's development. China's development calls for a peaceful international environment and at the same time helps promote world peace and stability. China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace. It holds the view that countries, large or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal. It does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs, nor does it impose its own will upon others. China upholds a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. Its military expenditure accounts for less than 1.5 percent of its GDP, below half of the world average.

China calls for abandoning the Cold War mindset to establish a new concept of security, while standing ready to safeguard regional and international security. It has dispatched more than 15,000 peacekeepers to 25 UN peacekeeping missions, including peacekeeping missions in countries that have not established diplomatic relations with China, such as Haiti. China has sent out more peacekeepers than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council. It has also contributed to international counter-piracy cooperation by deploying escort fleets in the Gulf of Aden.

—Increased openness is a strong driving force behind China's development. While setting great store by independence and self-reliance, China takes part in economic globalization and is committed to expanding the areas of opening up. China first established several special economic zones before going on to open up coastal areas, areas along the Yangtze River and the borders, and the hinterlands, culminating in its accession to the WTO. Likewise, it first focused on attracting foreign investment before seeking to establish an economic presence abroad. To date, China has shaped a multi-dimensional and multi-layered pattern of opening up covering a wide range of areas. By July this year, 698,000 foreign-invested companies had been established in China, with a paid-in investment of $1.05 trillion. China has been the top foreign investment destination among developing countries for the 18th consecutive year.

—Strengthened cooperation is a hallmark of China's development. Advocating peace, development and cooperation, China is developing cooperative ties with all other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. China has established the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, the China-ASEAN Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction and the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum. All these initiatives have helped deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between China and other countries. Despite tumultuous developments in the world community, China's commitment to strengthening cooperation with the rest of the world will not change.

—China's development inevitably leads to win-win outcomes. China does not pursue development at the cost of other countries' interests. Instead, it is committed to expanding common interests with other parties. As it tries to make the pie bigger, all countries will benefit. China believes trade disputes should be resolved appropriately through consultations. China cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the world, and its development benefits the world. Since it entered the WTO in 2001, China has imported annually $687 billion in goods on average, helping create more than 14 million jobs for other countries and regions. In this sense, China's growth has fueled the development of the world at large.

China looks poised to achieve sustainable development, as it enjoys favorable conditions at home, such as a large population and a huge domestic market, and has fully embraced world multi-polarization and economic globalization. China's road of peaceful development promises a bright future.

Implications

China's peaceful development road demonstrates increasing vigor and vitality, and will have profound implications for the country and the world.

This commitment to peaceful development has effectively guaranteed and supported China's development. By taking a peaceful road, China has maintained stable relations with major powers, improved relations with neighboring countries and deepened traditional friendship with other developing countries. It has created a stable international environment for domestic efforts to accelerate modernization and build a moderately prosperous society in all respects. Since its accession to the WTO, China's cooperation with other countries has surged across the board. Its unprecedented growth ever since has paved the way for its success in achieving the goal of turning China into a well off society by the end of the 20th century. Continued growth is also expected to help make China a moderately developed country by the mid-21st century as planned. China has successfully hosted the Beijing Olympics and the World Expo in Shanghai, events that testified to China's growing comprehensive national strength and international standing. All this progress has laid a solid groundwork for the realization of a national renewal.

China's peaceful development has contributed greatly to the progress of mankind. China is committed to resolving regional hot-spot issues peacefully in an effort to protect regional and world peace. It sponsors the six-party talks aimed at addressing the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. It calls for dialogue and negotiations to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue. It also supports Afghanistan's reconstruction process. Moreover, China has become an important engine for world economic growth, powering the common development of all countries. One percent of growth in the Chinese economy translates into 0.34 percent and 0.2 percent of growth in medium-income and low-income countries respectively.

China has strengthened cooperation with other emerging and developing countries through mechanisms such as the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) bloc and the group of five major developing countries (China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico). It has worked to make the Group of 20 the premier forum for international economic governance, while helping shape fair and equitable international political and economic systems. China undertakes international responsibilities and obligations commensurate with its national strength. It did not devaluate its currency during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. It has taken an active part in international cooperation to combat the global financial crisis in recent years by stimulating domestic demand. It made great contributions to the world community's efforts to cope with both crises. In all these efforts, it has explored ways to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

Facts have shown and will continue to show peaceful development has resulted in ever closer interconnections between China's future and destiny and those of the world. The more developed China becomes, the greater its contributions to world peace and development will be.

Challenges

China's road to peaceful development is unprecedented in history. It is bound to be a bumpy road, as the country confronts challenges both at home and abroad. Externally, China must cope with disturbances from hegemonic forces. It must also resist the impact of various warnings about "the threat of China." It will have to address doubts about China's development while doing its utmost to seek support from the international community. Domestically, it needs to apply the Scientific Outlook on Development, deepen reform, expand areas involving its opening up, accelerate the transition of the economic development pattern and improve people's living standards. It should strike a balance between reform, development and stability to build a broad consensus on peaceful development in society.

Properly handling the following relationships is crucial for China's efforts in tackling challenges and achieving peaceful development:

—The relationship between safeguarding China's own interests and promoting the common interests of the international community. China's peaceful development is based on international cooperation, through which it seeks lasting world peace and common development of all countries. In the final analysis, China's interests are consistent with the common interests of the international community. China therefore should try to expand the areas where its interests meet with those of various other parties. While securing its own development, it should accommodate the legitimate concerns of other countries, especially other developing countries. It should strive for win-win outcomes rather than attempting to maximize its own interests. Given that the world has become a global community with shared interests, China should find mutually acceptable solutions to disputes by conducting equal consultations and making compromises on the basis of mutual trust. It should not allow temporary or local conflicts to hinder overall progress in bilateral cooperation.

—The relationship between cooperation and struggle. While attaching great importance to cooperation, China upholds the principles of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests. It must fight back against acts that infringe upon its sovereignty and harm its core interests. There are also countries attempting to distract China from its peaceful development road by behaving provocatively. While showing contempt toward such attempts from a strategic perspective, it should deal with them seriously so it can always seek peaceful development on its own initiative.

—The relationship between immediate and long-term interests. China's development in the past three decades is a testament to the validity and importance of its road to peaceful development. China is confident about the future of its peaceful development. At the same time, the country will remain in the primary stage of socialism for a long time to come. It will take several decades for it to realize modernization, and it still has a long way to go to fulfill the goals of peaceful development. China should be mindful of potential dangers and be prepared for future difficulties and risks, both predicable and unpredictable. It should be even more determined to promote harmony and development at home and advocate peace and cooperation on the international stage. It should also properly address various challenges at home and abroad. Most importantly, despite mounting pressure and daunting challenges, it should take long-term interests into account. It should not waver in its efforts to seek peaceful development, but follow the road of peaceful development with a firm determination.

China's peaceful development is a great contribution of the Chinese nation to the world. Although the road still has room for improvement, China committed to peaceful development will surely create a bright future for itself and for the world at large.