Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that in a world aspiring for peace and development, the cold-war and zero-sum mentality look even more out of place.

"Putting oneself on a pedestal or trying to immune oneself from adverse developments will get nowhere," said Xi when delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference.

Xi said humanity has a major choice to make between openness and isolation, and between progress and retrogression.

"We must dispel the clouds to see the sun, as we say in Chinese, so as to have a keen grasp of the law of history and the trend of the world," said Xi.

Xi said we live at a time with an overwhelming trend toward peace and cooperation as well as openness and connectivity.

Xi said we also live at a time with an overwhelming trend toward reform and innovation, adding that those who reject them will be left behind and assigned to the dustbin of history.