China's peaceful rise relies on own efforts for development

    BOSTON, Dec. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao stressed here Wednesday that the essence of China's road to peaceful rise lies in relying on its own efforts for development.

    "China is a large developing country. It is neither proper nor possible for us to rely on foreign countries for development. We must, and we can only, rely on our own efforts," Wen Jiabao said in a speech delivered at Harvard University in Boston.

    While opening still wider to the outside world, he said, China must more fully and more consciously depend on its own structural innovation, on constantly expanding the domestic market, on converting the huge savings of the citizens into investment, and on improving the quality of the population and scientific and technological progress to solve the problems of resources and the environment.

    This is the essence of China's road to peaceful rise and development, said the Chinese premier, who arrived in the northeast US port city earlier in the day, the last stop of his four-day official visit to the country.

    "China today is a country in reform and opening-up and a risingpower dedicated to peace," he emphasized. "China tomorrow will continue to be a major country that loves peace and has a great deal to look forward to."

    In his speech, Wen expressed confidence that the Chinese government and people can overcome all difficulties and achieve their ambitious modernization goals, under which China will becomea medium-developed nation by the mid of the century.

    He listed four favorable factors for China to carry out its modernization plan, which include a global trend toward peace and development, vitality of socialism China adheres to, tremendous economic achievements China has achieved, and the nation's rich cultural reserves.

    China's development is blessed with "a rare period of strategic opportunities," he said. "We are determined to secure a peaceful international environment and a stable domestic environment in which to concentrate on our own development and, with it, to help promote world peace and development."

    Twenty-five years of reform and opening-up has given China a considerable material accumulation and its economy has gained a foothold in the world, he noted. Enditem