BEIJING, April 10 (INP): China will not threaten anyone else, attempt to overturn the existing international system, or seek spheres of influence, no matter how much progress it has made in development. The country will

"stay as determined as ever to build world peace, contribute to global prosperity and uphold the international order,"

he said in his historical address at the opening ceremony of Boao Forum for Asia annual conference, held in the southern island province of Hainan. The address, covering wide-range of subjects of regional and international interest, also envisages missions the Chinese people need to undertake in the new era.

"Each age and generation have their own challenges and missions. China has come a long way, but it has to overcome new challenges on its way ahead,"

Xi said. According to Xi, the nation's missions in the new era are as follows: -- Continue to improve itself through reform; -- Take bold steps in innovation to boost development; -- Continue to increase openness and expand cooperation; -- Work together with the rest of the world and make greater contribution to humanity. Xi called for people around the world to work together toward a community with a shared future for mankind and make Asia and the world peaceful, tranquil, prosperous, open and beautiful.

"With the future in mind, we need to treat each other with respect and as equals,"

said Xi. With the future in mind, Xi said, we also need to promote dialogue and share responsibility, engage in cooperation for win-win results, uphold inclusiveness and seek harmony without uniformity, as well as treat nature with respect and treasure our planet. Xi said that the Belt and Road Initiative may be China's idea, but its opportunities and outcomes are going to benefit the world.

China has no geopolitical calculations

China has no geopolitical calculations, seeks no exclusionary blocs and imposes no business deals on others, the president said. "It must be pointed out that as the BRI is a new initiative, it is perfectly natural for there to be different views in cooperation. As long as the parties embrace the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, we can surely enhance cooperation and resolve differences," he said. "This way, we can make the BRI the broadest platform for international cooperation in keeping with the trend of economic globalization and to the greater benefit of all our peoples," Xi said. Xi said China's reform and opening up will definitely succeed and that a Cold War mentality, zero-sum thinking, and isolationism would hit walls. Xi said that opening brings progress, while closure would lead to backwardness. Xi said that in a world aspiring for peace and development, the cold-war and zero-sum mentality look even more out of place.

"Putting oneself on a pedestal or trying to immune oneself from adverse developments will get nowhere,"

said Xi. Xi said humanity has a major choice to make between openness and isolation, and between progress and retrogression. "We must dispel the clouds to see the sun, as we say in Chinese, so as to have a keen grasp of the law of history and the trend of the world," said Xi. Xi said we live at a time with an overwhelming trend toward peace and cooperation as well as openness and connectivity. “We also live at a time with an overwhelming trend toward reform and innovation, adding that those who reject them will be left behind and assigned to the dustbin of history,” he added. INP/JAVED