China is pledged to playing a responsible role in the world, Chinese Premier Wen Jibao said on Monday in Canberra, capital of Australia.

The premier arrived in Perth on Saturday at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, kicking off his official visit to the country.

Wen made the remarks at the welcoming banquet hosted by Howard, saying China is, through its own acts, playing a responsible role in the world, as shown in the following ten aspects:

-- China endeavors to develop a socially productive force and improve the material and cultural life of its people and remains committed to promoting human progress.

A developing and stable China in itself is the biggest contribution to world peace and prosperity.

-- Drawing upon its practices and experiences, China has embarked on a road of scientific development.

China takes energy conservation and environmental protection as basic state policies, and China is striving to build a resource conservation and environmentally friendly society to ensure the country's coordinated and sustained social and economic development. China's development does not pose a threat to the world.

-- China pursues an independent foreign policy of peace and a takes position on issues based on their respective merits.

In international affairs, China works to promote peace and development through cooperation and strictly observes the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and commonly recognized norms governing international relations.

China does not define its relations with other countries on the basis of ideology, and China does not enter into alliance with any other country. China seeks to live in friendship with all other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

-- China strives to safeguard global peace, and is actively involved in preserving and building the international system.

China works for the establishment of a fair and equitable new international order, promotes democracy in international relations and upholds the diversity of civilizations.

-- China continues to foster good-neighborliness and partnership with countries adjacent to itself and will always be a good neighbor and good partner of them.

China advances bilateral and regional cooperation for common prosperity and stands for openness in regional cooperation and closer relations with other countries and international organizations.

-- China supports peaceful settlement of disputes and plays a constructive role in addressing hot-spot issues.

China also takes an active part in international cooperation in addressing non-traditional security issues, including major natural disasters.

-- China takes an active part in counter-terrorism and cooperation in non-proliferation and strives to maintain global security and strategic stability. China opposes terrorism and has played a constructive role in international anti-terrorism cooperation.

China has set up a comprehensive legal regime governing export control to prevent proliferation and is stepping up its law-enforcement efforts toward this end.

-- China honors its WTO accession commitments and is actively involved in building an equitable and free international trading regime.

Major intellectual property rights (IPR) laws in China have been amended to make them compatible with relevant WTO agreements. In addition, the threshold for meting out criminal punishment for IPR violation has been lowered to strengthen law enforcement for IPR protection.

-- China strives to realize the UN Millennium Development Goals and provides sincere and selfless assistance to other developing countries.

-- China pursues a military strategy which is defensive in nature and works to promote international disarmament and arms control. The share of China's military spending in its GDP and government budget is fairly low by international standards.

The modest increase in China's military expenditure is mainly for improving the welfare of its servicemen, strengthening its defense capabilities and achieving national reunification. Thus, it will not pose a threat to anyone. China's defense policy is transparent.

Wen said that China sincerely hoped to make a greater contribution to world peace and development. But to do so, China needed, first and foremost, to step up its development.

He said that despite all it had achieved, China remained a developing country faced with a huge task of development. A big population, low productivity and unbalanced regional development: these are the basic features of China's national conditions.

He said that China still had a long way to go before it achieved modernization. This calls for the unremitting efforts of several, a dozen or even several dozens of generations.

Source: Xinhua