UNITED NATIONS -- China said here Saturday that all the countries in the world should treat each other as equals and the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity must be upheld.

Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, made the statement while speaking at the ongoing annual high-level debate of the UN General Assembly, which opened here Wednesday.

"In this world, we should treat each other as equals," Wang said. "The principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity must be upheld."

"The pursuit by different countries of economic and social development must be respected," he said, adding "Their right to independently choose their social systems and development paths must be safeguarded."

He called for openness and inclusiveness, so as to "open the door of dialogue and exchange and achieve harmony between countries with different social systems, religions and cultural traditions."

"We should pursue mutually beneficial cooperation," said the Chinese minister. "A country should align its own interests with those of others and work to expand areas where their interests converge. Only by helping each other can countries prosper."

He also called for "a new thinking for win-win and all-win progress and reject the old notion of zero-sum game or 'the winner takes all'."

"We should uphold justice," he said. "It is imperative to promote greater democracy and rule of law in international relations, use fair and just rules to tell right from wrong and settle disputes, and pursue peace and development within the framework of international law."

Wang also urged all parties to jointly uphold the authority and effectiveness of the United Nations and reform and improve the global governance structure.

Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, he noted, adding that more than two billion people across the world fell victim to this calamity.

"In China alone, the aggression committed by Japanese militarists left more than 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians dead or injured," he said.

"The United Nations was established to keep the scourge of the two world wars from occurring again and it embodies hope of all countries for peace and security," he said. "To achieve this goal, the Charter of the United Nations created the vision of joint efforts to build a better world."