September 21 is the International Day of Peace. On that day, this unanimous United Nations resolution established in 1981 calls on people everywhere to commit to peace above all differences for 24 hours. The 2021 theme of Recovering Better for an Equitable and Sustainable World is highly relevant as human society still strives to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The international community today is more than ever eager to create a peaceful setting for development.

China has long adhered to the mindset of peaceful development and devoted itself to promoting the sustainable and inclusive development of the world. All the well-known international initiatives or organizations the country has rolled out, including the Belt and Road Initiative, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Boao Forum for Asia, demonstrate that China upholds the safeguarding of world peace as one of its primary missions.

China's development in itself is a powerful force for peace. Fulfilling the poverty reduction targets, the country maintains social stability and economic prosperity and sticks to the path of peaceful development, in turn a major contribution to the world.

China has also taken an active part in the handling of major international affairs, facilitating the peaceful settlement of international disputes and offering constructive solutions to global and regional peace. It has pushed for development to be placed at the core of the global frameworks of macro-policies and worked toward the formulation and implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The country has persistently facilitated South-South cooperation and a North-South dialogue, so as to narrow the development gap and help countries achieve economic independence and diversified development.

China has been active in participating in UN peacekeeping operations. It is the second largest contributor to both the UN regular and peacekeeping budgets, and the largest supplier of troops among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Since 1990, China has sent some 50,000 peacekeepers on 25 missions, and the Chinese army has become a key force in UN security operations.

Despite the increasing traditional and non-traditional risks and challenges facing the international community, peace and development remain the themes of the times. China was, is and always will be a promoter of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order.