China's development poses no threat to others: Hu
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-18 13:55

Busan, South Korea -- Chinese President Hu Jintao reiterated Thursday that China's development will not stand in the way of anyone, nor will it pose any threat to others.

"Instead, it will only do good to peace, stability and prosperity of the world,"Hu told the APEC business leaders in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan.

In his speech entitled "An Open Mind for Win-Win Cooperation" at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, the Chinese president pledged that China will firmly adhere to the road of peaceful development.

China seeks self development by its work for a peaceful international environment while promoting world peace through its own development, he said.

"China is becoming an important driving force behind the economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole," said the Chinese leader.

China's economic development not only benefits the Chinese people, but also provides the whole world with more investment opportunities and a bigger market, he added.

The three-day APEC CEO Summit, which opened here early Thursday, is an annual event where business leaders, economists, policy makers from the Asia-Pacific region hold high-level discussions on economic and trade issues.

The Chinese president told the APEC business leaders that China's trade with Asia-Pacific economies hit 760 billion US dollars in 2004, accounting for 72.7 percent of China's entire import and export in that year.

In 2004, China's economy grew by 9.4 percent, against the backdrop of the fastest growth in the world economy in nearly three decades and a record-high economic expansion in the Asia-Pacific region since 2000.

China's foreign trade amounted to 1.1545 trillion dollars in 2004, twice as much as that of three years ago, said the Chinese president.

"Our import totaled 561.2 billion dollars, nearly 100 percent greater than three years ago," he said.

Among the CEOs attending the summit are Citigroup Chairman William Rhodes, Microsoft Vice President Craig Mundie and Chevron Managing Director Samuel Snyder, as well as top executives from Toyota, China Unicom and Hong Kong's Li and Fung Ltd.

By the end of 2004, the paid-in volume of overseas investment in China had totaled 745.3 billion dollars, and more than half a million foreign-funded businesses had been approved for operation in China.

From 1990 to 2004, profit repatriation by those businesses reached 250.6 billion dollars, the Chinese president said.

Despite great progress in its economic development, China remains the world's biggest developing country plagued by population, weak economic bases and uneven development, he said.

"There is a long way to go before we realize modernization and common prosperity, and we need to make long-term and arduous efforts to this end," he told the summit.

"We will continue to take economic development as our central task and top priority, concentrate on development, and work hard to achieve our goals and, at the same time, make our own contributions to regional and global economic development," he added.

The Chinese president vowed to continue the basic state policy of opening up to the outside world, conduct extensive international cooperation, improve investment environment and achieve win-win results.

He also urged participants to pay close attention to imbalance and gaps between the rich and the poor countries in the world.

"Imbalance in global economic development, the widening gap between the North and South, the growing constraint of energy, resources and environment on economic development, and new manifestations of protectionism - all these are issues that we must pay close attention to and address properly," the Chinese president said.

Hu arrived in Busan, South Korea's second largest city, on Thursday from the capital of Seoul.

Since its inception in 1989, APEC has become an influential forum working as a powerful vehicle to promote trade and economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

APEC represents more than one-third of the world's population (2.6 billion people), about 60 percent of world GDP and nearly half of world trade. In its first 10 years, APEC countries generated nearly 70 percent of the global economic growth.

APEC's 21 members include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

South Korea holds APEC's rotating chairmanship this year.