Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said here Saturday that in the next five to ten years, the international situation will continue to go through profound and complex changes.

"We need to have a proper judgment of implications and changes of conditions of China's important period of strategic opportunities. We will continue to hold high the banner of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit and call for the spirit of equality, mutual trust, inclusiveness, mutual learning and win-win cooperation," Yang said.

"We need to discover opportunities in a complex environment, maintain opportunities amid risks and challenges, and create new opportunities in development of the situation," Yang said.

Yang made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

"We will continue to unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development, resolutely uphold China's sovereignty, security and development interests and foster a more favorable external environment for implementing the 12th five-year plan and for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects," he said.

For the past five years, the international situation has undergone the most profound and complex changes since the end of the Cold War, Yang said. "We were faced with a lot of major events, emergent incidents and thorny issues."

Steered by the central leadership, China's diplomacy responded to the changing conditions in a calm manner, met challenges head on and carried out work in a pioneering and innovative spirit. China's diplomacy made steady progress and achieved new results.

Chinese leaders were actively engaged in summits and top leadership diplomacy. This has further enhanced China's international image and raised China's international influence.

"We firmly upheld China's sovereignty, security and development interests. We strengthened our exchange and cooperation with other countries in the world, pushed forward reform on the global governance structure and took solid steps to carry out public diplomacy," he said.

"We fostered a favorable international environment for China's reform, development and stability, and made new contributions to the world's peace and development," Yang said.