Page 10 - ON BUILDING A HUMAN COMMUNITY WITH A SHARED FUTURE

ON BUILDING A HUMAN COMMUNITY WITH A SHARED FUTURE

peace. Amity with neighbors , harmony in diversity , and peace are the
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cherished values of Chinese culture. The Art of War, a Chinese classic,
begins with this observation, “The art of war is of vital importance to
the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road to either survival or ruin.
Hence it demands careful study.” What this means is that every effort
should be made to avoid war and great caution must be exercised when it
comes to fighting war. For several millennia, peace has coursed the veins
of the Chinese people and been imprinted in our very DNA.
Several centuries ago, China was strong, such that its GDP
accounted for 30 percent of the world total. Even then, China never
engaged in aggression or expansion. In the century and more after
the 1840 Opium War, China suffered at the hands of aggression and
brutality and endured the curse of war and chaos. Confucius said, “Do
not to others what you would not have others do to you.” We Chinese
firmly believe that peace and stability is the only way to prosperity and
development.
China has grown from a poor and weak country to the world’s
second largest economy. What it relied on was not military expansion
or colonial plunder, but the hard work of its people and our efforts
to uphold peace. China will never waver in its pursuit of peaceful
development. No matter how strong its economy grows, China will never
seek hegemony, expansion, or a sphere of influence. History has borne
this out and will continue to do so.
Second, China remains unchanged in its commitment to pursue
common development. An old Chinese saying tells us that when enjoying
the fruit, you should remember the tree; when drinking the water, you
should remember its source. China’s development has been possible
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because of the world, and China has also contributed to the world’s
development. We will continue to pursue a mutually beneficial strategy
of opening up, in order to share our development opportunities with
other countries and welcome them aboard the express train of China’s
development.
Between 1950 and 2016, China provided foreign countries with
over RMB 400 billion of aid, and we will continue to increase assistance
to others as our ability permits. Since the outbreak of the international
financial crisis, China has contributed over 30 percent of global growth

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