President Hu Jintao has called on Chinese diplomats to better serve the country's goal to comprehensively build a more affluent society. Also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Hu made the remarks at a five-day meeting on diplomatic work that ended in Beijing on Sunday.

Other top leaders including Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun and Luo Gan also attended the meeting along with representatives of Chinese diplomatic envoys.

Hu reviewed China's work in international relations since last the envoys' meeting in 1998, and analyzed the current international situation. He said that the country would continue to implement and develop the guiding principles formulated during its reform and opening of the past two decades.

Peace and development remain the themes of the times, said Hu.

Multi-polarization and economic globalization have been advancing despite some twists and turns along the path, while science and technology have been developing at an amazing speed. This has brought change and some new features to the global situation and international relations that deserve close attention, according to Hu.

He stressed the fundamental interests of the country and people, saying, "We must always give top priority to safeguarding the national sovereignty and security."

China will pursue its independent foreign policy of peace and continue to handle state-to-state relations in line with the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence. It will seek the common interests of all parties and cooperate with all countries on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

The country will continue to safeguard world peace and to promote common development and democracy in international relations. At the same time, it will support various methods of development, protect cultural diversity, implement new security concepts, and help to establish a just and rational new international political and economic order.

To this end, China will promote the steady growth of relations with major countries. It will build friendships and partnerships with neighbors in the pursuit of security and prosperity, both on a bilateral basis and in the context of regional cooperation.

The nation will strengthen unity and cooperation with developing countries and support their just and rational appeals in international affairs. China can play a constructive role in such fields as politics, economy, society, disarmament and arms control, safeguarding the principles of the United Nations Charter and the recognized norms of international relations. The country will support every consensus that represents the law of human development and conforms to the common interests of all countries.

Hu also called for efforts to strengthen diplomatic work in the economic and cultural fields, to protect China's rights and interests overseas, and to build a contingent of diplomatic professionals.

Premier Wen Jiabao also spoke at the meeting, stressing that diplomacy should serve the country's major strategies for economic development. Efforts to strengthen cooperation and exchanges should be redoubled

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2004)