Former leaders of Japan and the Republic of Korea said China's growth boosts regional development, and its peaceful development is essential for the region's peace and stability.

"China's economic development is good not only for the country itself, but also brings many opportunities to its neighboring countries," former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda said.

"China accepts the neighboring countries as development partners, as we expected, so China's peaceful development is welcomed."

Fukuda made the remarks on Tuesday in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, during the ninth session of the Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum.

A series of ideas have been promoted by China to enhance its relationship with neighboring countries. Among the initiatives are the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", both unveiled by the new Chinese leadership after it took office in March 2013.

"China now is the second-largest economy in the world, which means it will assume more responsibilities in the region as well as the world," he said.

Japan is happy to see that China seeks closer relations in the region and wants to work with China to realize friendly regional cooperation, the former Japanese prime minister added.

China's strong economic ties have the country playing crucial roles in solving regional issues, such as the nuclear issue in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Fukuda said.

"No country is capable of maintaining regional peace and development alone," he added.

Former ROK prime minister Lee Hong-koo, who also attended the forum, said China's rapid growth over the past three decades has played a significant role in Asia's development and the progress of globalization.

"China is a great country, and China's development is a natural progress, nothing strange about that. China has a tradition of peaceful development, and a peaceful, developing China will be more important in the new era," he added.

The former ROK leader said he also expected China to continually contribute to regional issues, such as the DPRK's nuclear weapons.

As a responsible big country, China takes the peaceful development path, which is different from certain major world powers' experience, said Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Jianchao.

"We believe that development is the absolute principle and the key to solving all problems that China is facing. And China's development requires a peaceful environment both inside and outside of China," Liu said.

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(China Daily 04/23/2014 page11)