作为一个有五千年文明史的东方古国，中国没有扩张和称霸的传统。中国文化以“仁”、“和”为核心，倡导讲信修睦，以礼待人，抱有“四海之内皆兄弟”的情怀，主张“己所不欲，勿施于人”。通过连接中西方的丝绸之路，中国送到外国的是精美的纺织品、茶叶和瓷器。郑和率领庞大船队七下西洋，到达东南亚、非洲甚至澳洲的很多地方，从事的是文化交流和商品贸易，没有占别人一寸土地。
As an ancient Eastern civilization of 5,000 years, China has no tradition of seeking outward expansion or hegemony. Central to the Chinese culture is benevolence, peace and harmony. We keep good faith, build amicable ties and treat others with respect. We believe that "within the four seas all men are brothers" and "we should not do unto others what we don't want others to do unto us". China used the ancient Silk Road to transport exquisite silk, porcelain and tea to faraway countries. Zheng He, the famous Chinese navigator of the Ming Dynasty, and his fleet sailed to many places in Southeast Asia, Africa and even Australia on their seven voyages to the Western Seas. Yet, they didn't take a single foreign land, and only engaged in cultural exchanges and commodity trade.

当今中国始终不渝走和平发展道路。中国的发展源于自身经济社会进步，而不是对外武力扩张。中国努力争取和平的国际环境以发展自己，又以自身发展促进世界和平。
China is firmly committed to the path of peaceful development. And its development is achieved by promoting economic and social progress at home rather than seeking military expansion overseas. China strives for a peaceful international environment to develop itself and, in turn, contributes to world peace through its development.

中国始终不渝奉行互利共赢的开放战略。中国发展离不开世界，也惠及世界。我们不认为国与国关系是你输我赢、你兴我衰的零和关系，国与国之间应该互相尊重、平等互信、互利共赢、共同发展。中国已经成为世界第二大进口国和全球最大的新兴市场，为其他国家和地区创造了1400多万个就业机会。中国正在积极实施“十二五”规划，中国坚持开放，欢迎世界各国参与中国发展、分享中国机遇。
China is also firmly committed to the win-win strategy of opening up. China cannot develop itself in isolation of the world. And the world benefits from China's development. We don't think the state-to-state relationship is a zero-sum game where one's gain is another's loss. Rather we advocate mutual respect, equality, mutual trust and win-win cooperation for common development. China is now the world's second largest importer and largest emerging market, and has created over 14 million job opportunities for other countries and regions. As China moves to implement the 12th Five-Year Plan, it stays committed to the opening-up policy. All countries are welcome to participate in our development endeavour and share in China's opportunities.

当然，中国仍然是不折不扣的发展中国家。中国GDP虽已“居二”，但人均GDP仅4000多美元，相当于澳大利亚的1/9。按照联合国人均一天一美元的生活标准，中国仍有1.5亿人生活在贫困线以下。中国面临着“未富先大”、“未富先老”的挑战。有人戏称，中国是历史上最穷的“老二”。 最近，有些发达国家希望中国“从发展中国家毕业”。我们何尝不希望，但现实终归是现实，为此我们还要艰苦努力。“全心全意谋发展，聚精会神搞建设”，是解决中国面临问题的关键。
Having said that, China is still a developing country pure and simple. Although its GDP is the second largest in the world, its per capita GDP is only about US$ 4,000, or one ninth of that of Australia. By the UN standard of one dollar a day per person, there are 150 million Chinese living under the poverty line. This is the harsh reality we are facing: Our economy is big in aggregate terms but small in per capita; our society risks getting old before getting rich. China, as someone has jokingly said, is the poorest No. 2 in the world. Some developed countries have wanted China to graduate from the developing country status. How I wish we could. But fact is fact. To achieve that end, we must make more strenuous efforts, and stay focused on development, as development is the key solution to our problems.