BUSAN (South Korea), Nov 17: President Hu Jintao sought on Thursday to ease anxiety about China’s emergence as a global power, insisting his country would never threaten world peace and would instead be a force for prosperity.

“China’s development will not stand in the way of anyone, nor will it pose any threat to anyone,” Hu said in a speech on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Busan, South Korea.

“Instead, it will only do good to peace, stability and world prosperity.”

China’s top priority was to concentrate on developing the lives of its own people and for this it needed a peaceful international environment, he told world business leaders.

“Despite great progress in its economic development, China remains the biggest developing country in the world with a large population, weak economic foundation and uneven development,” Hu said.

“There is a long way to go before we realize modernization and common prosperity and we need to make long-term and arduous efforts to this end.”

Hu further called for the ‘balanced and orderly’ development of the world economy and urged business leaders to help promote efforts aimed at narrowing the gap between rich and poor countries.

“We should respect the right of all countries to independently choose their own development paths, promote greater dialogue and exchanges among civilizations in the spirit of democracy and equality,” Hu said.

The Chinese president also called for greater global cooperation on sharing energy resources, while downplaying concerns that China’s growing appetite for resources was threatening the energy security of other nations.

“Indeed, China is a major energy consumer,” Hu said. “More importantly, however, China is a major energy producer.”

Since 1990, China has met some 90 per cent of its energy needs, largely through its vast reserves of coal, and was willing to cooperate with others to ensure global energy security, he said.

“The most critical thing is for all countries to work together for the stability of the world energy market and to fuel the sustained growth of the world economy with sufficient, safe, economical and clean energy resources,” he said.

China was also shifting its energy strategy toward conservation efforts, developing vast hydroelectric power potential and diversifying into other alternative energy sources, Hu added.

“The development of nuclear, wind and bio-power in China has just started and there is great potential for future development,” he said.

Hu is currently on a tour of Asia and Europe during which he has relentlessly attempted to emphasize his nation’s peaceful rise as an economic and global power.

Following a summit with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun on Wednesday, Hu will attend the APEC summit on Friday and Saturday before returning to Beijing on Sunday for a bilateral meeting with US President George W. Bush.—AFP