Visiting President Hu Jintao said in Pretoria on Wednesday that China's development is peaceful, open, cooperative and harmonious in nature.

 

Hu, who arrived here earlier Tuesday from the Namibian capital of Windhoek for a three-day state visit to South Africa, made the remarks in a speech at the University of Pretoria.

 

"We aim to build a harmonious society at home, and work with other countries to build a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity," he said.

 

The president added that China is dedicated to peace, development and cooperation.

 

"We will continue to pursue the independent foreign policy of peace, the path of peaceful development and the opening-up strategy for mutual benefit," Hu said.

 

The Chinese, as a peace-loving nation, are ready to work with the African people to build a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity, he said.

 

"We believe in cooperation and harmony among nations, and we hold that the strong and the rich should not bully the weak and the poor," said the president.

 

Hu said that for more than 100 years in China's modern history, the Chinese people were subjected to colonial aggression and oppression by foreign powers and went through similar suffering and agony that the majority of African countries endure.

 

Because of this, he said, the Chinese people are most strongly opposed to colonialism, oppression, and slavery of all manifestations, and have the most profound sympathy for all other nations in their pursuit of independence, happiness and their aspirations.

 

The president expressed his hope that the young people of China and Africa will contribute to the construction of a harmonious world.

 

"The young Chinese and Africans are a dynamic force in advancing China-Africa friendship and in building a harmonious world," Hu said.

 

The Chinese government sees great value in the exchanges between Chinese and African youth and is committed to strengthening these exchanges, he added.

 

Hu said China, which currently provides 2,000 government scholarships for African students each year, will double the number in the next three years.

 

The president called on China and African countries to dedicate themselves to the "shared strategic decision and historical mission" of renewing their traditional friendship, developing the new type of strategic partnership, and building a harmonious world.

 

"Let's join hands and work tirelessly to realize this common vision," he said at the end of his speech.

 

South Africa is the sixth leg of Hu's current eight-nation Africa tour that has already taken him to Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia and Namibia. Hu will also travel to Mozambique and the Seychelles.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2007)