China views good-neighbourly friendship as a priority of its foreign policy and wants peaceful co-existence, cooperation and development with neighboring countries, Vice President Li Yuanchao has said.
Li made the remarks at a forum to mark International Day of Peace in Kunming, capital city of southwestern China's Yunnan Province.
Facing important opportunities for development, China and South Asia should make joint efforts to safeguard peace, adhere to independence and self-empowerment, oppose external interference and the big and strong bullying the small and weak, Li said.
Calling for dialogue and consultation to peacefully solve disputes rather than resorting to force, Li said both sides should expand mutually beneficial cooperation and accelerate connectivity to forge a tightly integrated community of interests, Xinhua reported.
War and conflict are the biggest obstacles to the development of South Asia and lasting peace is the common aspiration of its people, Li said.
"China is willing to work with our neighbors, including South Asian countries, to achieve lasting peace in the region," he added.
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