CHINA is aiming to play a bigger role on the international stage, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said yesterday.

“China is not trying to build a rival system,” he told reporters. “On the contrary, we are trying to play a bigger role in the existing international order.”

The country had become more active in its external relations and its international status has been on the rise, he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress annual session.

Last year saw a multiple enhancement of China’s power in international institutions, he said.

The country now has the third largest quota and voting power in the International Monetary Fund, and its currency has been included in the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket. China has become a member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and China makes the second biggest contribution to the United Nations.

As it grows in strength, Wang said, China needs reasonable development space and a corresponding say in international affairs. “In my view, this is something quite normal.”

He said the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS bank are supplements to and improvements on the existing financial system.

Wang said China is confident of finding a path to the status of a great power different from the one followed by traditional powers.

“China will not play the bully. Rather, we will abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter,” he said.

China will not engage in zero-sum games. Rather, the country will pursue win-win cooperation with all countries of the world, he added.

Wang said “major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics” has been taking shape since Xi Jinping assumed China’s top leadership.

China has made active efforts and broken new ground in its diplomacy under Xi’s leadership, with the president putting forward a number of new thoughts, new ideas and new measures.

He said China’s diplomatic efforts serve to help realize the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation and the building of a community of shared destiny for all mankind via the strategic choice of peaceful development.

“The value we insist on is to adopt a balanced approach to friendship and interest, to uphold justice in international affairs, and to put friendship before interest in state-to-state relations,” he said.

Responding to a question on China’s expanding overseas interests and, in particular, logistical facilities in Djibouti, Wang said China is trying to build necessary infrastructure and logistical capacities in regions with a concentration of China’s interests, which is reasonable, logical and consistent with international practice.

China’s interests are expanding overseas, 30,000 businesses are operating in the world, and millions of Chinese are working around the globe, he said.

“It is a pressing task for China’s diplomacy to better protect its growing overseas interests,” Wang said, adding that China is willing to shoulder more international security responsibilities.

Since 2008, the Chinese navy has sent 22 fleets to the Somali coast to escort more than 6,000 Chinese and foreign ships passing through these waters.

China is the biggest contributor of peacekeeping personnel among the five permanent members in the UN Security Council and the second largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget.

Wang said China wants to deepen cooperation with other countries, “including law enforcement and security cooperation.”

“At the same time we will play a constructive role in the political settlement of international and regional issues so as to create a more secure and stable environment for China’s development overseas.”

Turning to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Wang said it should not be seen as expansionism, but rather as an open initiative.

“The initiative is China’s idea, but the opportunities it has created belong to the world,” he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt that links China with Europe through central and western Asia, and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road connecting China with southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.

It is a response to the need for development and cooperation among Asian and European countries, Wang said.

In building the Belt and Road Initiative, China follows the principles of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefit, he added.

More than 70 countries and international organizations have expressed an interest in the initiative, and over 30 countries have signed agreements with China to build it.

A connectivity network has taken shape, most notably the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor. A freight train now links China with Europe.

Wang went on to say that a G20 Hangzhou summit in September will stress innovation, reform and development. It will be the most important international conference China will host this year, he said, with China making breakthroughs for the summit by trying to discover a new force of growth through innovation, inject new momentum to the world economy through reform and create new prospects through development.

For the first time, China will make innovative growth a key topic on the G20 summit agenda, he said.

Wang noted the critical role the G20 summit played in recent years in addressing financial crisis.

Now the world economy has reached another crossroads. How to emerge from the long-time sluggish economy and find a new force of growth, and how to effectively coordinate national policies, “the world is turning its eyes to China,” he said.

“We believe that the G20 Hangzhou summit will boost confidence, build consensus and point the way forward,” he said. “Hangzhou will be a launch pad for the G20 summit. China will be a launch pad for the world economy.”

During the press conference, Wang accused the Japanese government and leaders of “double dealing,” saying there is little ground for optimism in bilateral relations despite signs of improvement.

On one hand, the Japanese government says “all the nice things” about wanting to improve relations. On the other, they are making trouble for China at every turn, he said. “This is what I would call a typical case of double dealing.”

“Thanks to the efforts of wise people on both sides, there are signs of improvement in China-Japan relations, but there is little ground for optimism,” he said.

“Of course we want to see the China-Japan relations truly improve, but as a saying goes, to cure diseases, you have to address underlying problems.”

The underlying problem is that the Japanese politicians in power have wrong perceptions about China, Wang said.

The Japanese side should give a serious thought on whether to view a growing China as a friend or a foe, as a partner or an adversary.