Chinese President Hu Jintao called for joint efforts to maintain world peace and stability at the BRICS summit Thursday morning in Sanya, saying that peace and stability form the prerequisite and foundation for development.
Hu said all countries should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and bring into full play the central role of the United Nations and its Security Council in "peace keeping, peace making and peace building.
"We should seek peaceful settlement of international disputes through dialogue and consultation," Hu said at the summit which was attended by leaders of the world's five largest emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
He said all countries should uphold the principle of "seeking common ground while shelving differences" and respect the sovereignty of
other countries.
"Internal affairs of a country should be handled independently by the country itself and international affairs should be managed
collectively through consultation by all," Hu said.
"We should be committed to multilateralism and international cooperation, and promote democracy in international relations," he added.
"We should respect the sovereignty of all countries and their right to choose their development paths and models in keeping with the
principle of seeking common ground while shelving differences," He said.