作為一個有五千年文明史的東方古國，中國沒有擴張和稱霸的傳統。中國文化以“仁”、“和”為核心，倡導講信修睦，以禮待人，抱有“四海之內皆兄弟”的情懷，主張“己所不欲，勿施于人”。通過連接中西方的絲綢之路，中國送到外國的是精美的紡織品、茶葉和瓷器。鄭和率領龐大船隊七下西洋，到達東南亞、非洲甚至澳洲的很多地方，從事的是文化交流和商品貿易，沒有占別人一寸土地。
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.

當今中國始終不渝走和平發展道路。中國的發展源于自身經濟社會進步，而不是對外武力擴張。中國努力爭取和平的國際環境以發展自己，又以自身發展促進世界和平。
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.

中國始終不渝奉行互利共贏的開放戰略。中國發展離不開世界，也惠及世界。我們不認為國與國關系是你輸我贏、你興我衰的零和關系，國與國之間應該互相尊重、平等互信、互利共贏、共同發展。中國已經成為世界第二大進口國和全球最大的新興市場，為其他國家和地區創造了1400多萬個就業機會。中國正在積極實施“十二五”規劃，中國堅持開放，歡迎世界各國參與中國發展、分享中國機遇。
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.

當然，中國仍然是不折不扣的發展中國家。中國GDP雖已“居二”，但人均GDP僅4000多美元，相當于澳大利亞的1/9。按照聯合國人均一天一美元的生活標準，中國仍有1.5億人生活在貧困線以下。中國面臨著“未富先大”、“未富先老”的挑戰。有人戲稱，中國是歷史上最窮的“老二”。 最近，有些發達國家希望中國“從發展中國家畢業”。我們何嘗不希望，但現實終歸是現實，為此我們還要艱苦努力。“全心全意謀發展，聚精會神搞建設”，是解決中國面臨問題的關鍵。
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.