Allaying fears over rise of China as a major power, President Hu Jintao said his country's development was born of a strenuous and inclusive process and its people suffered much in modern history.
Speaking at the BRIC summit in Brazil Jintao told fellow leaders from Brazil, Russia and India China values peace and stability more than anything else.
China is the world's largest developing country and its development is a long and arduous task, official media here quoted Hu as saying.
"Our per capita GDP has just exceeded USD 3,000, trailing behind more than 100 countries. It is truly a heavy task to grow the economy and improve people's livelihood in China," he said.
"The scale and complexity of the challenges that we face in the course of development are unmatched anywhere else in the world and have been rarely seen in human history. We must make persistent efforts for a long time to come."
Hu stressed that peaceful development is China's only and logical choice, saying it is Chinese people's long-cherished tradition to foster harmony and build amicable ties with neighbourss.
"The Chinese people suffered so much in modern history, and we therefore value peace, stability, harmony and freedom more than anything else," he said.
"A prosperous and growing China dedicated to peace and cooperation is willing and able to make new and even greater contribution to mankind's pursuit of peace and development," he said.
China's development is an inclusive, win-win process, he said adding that, "China pursues a win-win strategy of opening-up and seeks to promote common development of all countries through mutually-beneficial cooperation."
"China has taken an active part in the international cooperation to counter the global financial crisis ever since it broke out.
We have sent many trade and investment promotion missions and large procurement missions abroad," he said.
On the issue of trade balance, Hu said China has no intention to seek trade surplus.
"Quite the contrary, we have always placed high importance on achieving equilibrium in the balance of international payments in an effort to maintain macroeconomic stability."
