China remained committed to pursuing peaceful development and it had not posed, did not and would never pose any threat to other countries, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here on Wednesday at a Sino-European economic summit.

In pursuing peaceful development, China aimed at only one thing,that was, to secure a peaceful international environment for its development and to promote world peace through that development, said Wen in a speech at the 2nd Hamburg Summit entitled "China meets Europe."

China had the largest population in the world, a vast land, fairly rich resources and a market with huge potential, and all those assets enabled China to develop itself mainly through its own efforts, said the premier.

Admittedly, China had met with challenges regarding energy, resources and environment; however, after years of hard work, the country had succeeded in embarking on a path of realizing comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, that is, to form and pursue a scientific outlook on development and build a resources-conserving and environment-friendly society, said Wen.

Meanwhile, China would continue to promote economic and political reform, become more open to the outside world, remove institutional obstacles to development, and ensure steady progress in China's modernization drive, said Wen.

In international affairs, China would continue to adhere to its independent foreign policy of peace, by strictly observing the UN Charter and the generally recognized norms governing international relations. To that end it would continue to explicitly foster friendships with all other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, he said.

"We do not differentiate between countries according to their ideologies and social systems. We do not seek to impose our values on others. We do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. We oppose hegemonism and power politics and will never seek hegemony," Wen said.

China's defense policy, as its name clearly suggested, was defensive in nature, said the premier.

Having suffered from foreign aggression and bullying, the Chinese people knew only too well what it meant to be subjected to aggression and oppression, he said.

"That is why we are both sincere and determined in pursuing peace and we will not engage in an arms race or military expansion,"said Wen.

China was a responsible country and the Chinese people would remain trustworthy friends and reliable partners of the world's people, he said.

The Chamber of Commerce Hamburg, which initiated the summit, expected more than 350 economic, political and scientific leaders from both China and Europe to attend the event which will run until Friday.

Germany's Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Michael Glos, the Mayor of Hamburg Ole von Beust, and former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt were among the German leaders who attended the summit on Wednesday.

Wen arrived in Germany on Wednesday for a two-day visit, the third leg of his four-nation tour, which has taken him to Finland and Britain and will also include a visit to Tajikistan.

The Chinese premier will meet German President Horst Koehler and Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday.