NEW YORK — China has always followed a path of peaceful development and has no intention to seek hegemony, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sept 28.

Seeking external expansion has never been in the genes of the Chinese, Wang said in his speech titled “Opportunities or challenges, partner or rival?” at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank.

Adhering to the road of peaceful development has been written into the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China as well as the Charter of the Communist Party of China, he said.

China has always followed the path of cooperation with win-win results. On the historical Silk Road, China upheld the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and reciprocity. China’s reform and opening up aims to seek integration, cooperation and development with all the countries in the world, including the United States, he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping has become the most welcomed cooperation platform in the world. China is treading on a path that seeks common ground while putting aside differences, he said, quoting an old Chinese saying that gentlemen seek harmony not uniformity.

China always believes that all countries can coexist peacefully and learn from each other through dialogue, said the Chinese top diplomat, adding that China did not, does not and will not copy the mode of other countries, nor will China ask other countries to copy China’s practices.