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ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A stronger China will never pose a threat to other countries, Premier Wen Jiabao told a meeting of 26 Asian countries on Wednesday.
Asia's natural and human resources and large market gave it a incomparable advantage for economic growth but peace, stability and cooperation were necessary for prosperity, Wen told the Asian Cooperation Dialogue forum in the Pakistani capital.
"Some people are worried that a stronger and more developed China will pose a threat to other countries," he told the forum's opening session. "Such a worry is completely misplaced."
China was still a developing country with annual per capita gross domestic product of slightly more than $1,000, he said.
"We will continue to concentrate on addressing domestic concerns," he said. "We still have a very, very long way to go before China is modernised."
"Even if we become stronger and more developed, we will not stand in the way of others, still less, become a threat to others.
"China will never seek hegemony."
The Asian Cooperation Dialogue was set up in 2002 to promote pan-Asian cooperation unencumbered by the many thorny political issues that have restricted such efforts in the past.
Ministers at the meeting have called for cooperation beyond the economic sphere to achieve genuine integration in their diverse region stretching from the Middle East to the Pacific.
Wen said the region faced numerous difficulties which posed a serious impediment to growth.
"There are problems left over by history, such as territorial, ethnic and religious disputes," he said.
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