Thanks to robust sales in the Chinese market, General Motors reclaimed its crowning position among world auto giants in 2011, with 9.02 million vehicles sold globally, including 2.54 million in China.
"Without the contributions of the Chinese market, General Motors could have hardly become the world's largest automaker again," said Prof. Hu Angang at Tsinghua University.
The auto industry is the epitome of what Chinese economic growth means to the world at large, Hu said.
National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday said China realized steady and relatively fast growth amid the stumbling global economy, with last year's gross domestic product growing 9.2 percent -- far higher than the 3.8-percent world average growth, as projected by the International Monetary Fund.
"China's development means more opportunities for, not threats to, the world," Prof. Hu said. "The whole world, from developed nations to those least developed, are benefiting from China's development."
China's legislators and political advisors are scheduled to start their annual sessions in early March.
"The world will set its eyes on the two sessions -- the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference -- during which China will convey and reaffirm its willingness to stick to peaceful development and active involvement in international issues," said Hu, director of Tsinghua's Center for China Studies.
However, China's economic rise has been considered a potential threat to the West.
Some Western countries are worried about China mainly out of concerns that China maintained relatively high economic growth amidst the backdrop of a shrinking world economy, said Tao Jian, deputy chief of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
"Moreover, China played an important role in dealing with the financial crisis and offered aid in handling the European debt crisis, which is a blow to their self-esteem," Tao said.
"The China threat theory is baseless, as the emphasis of China's development is on increasing its economic power so as to improve the lives of its people, rather than vying for world hegemony," Tao said.
The State Council, or China's Cabinet, published a white paper on China's peaceful development in September last year.
"China strives to make its due contribution to world peace and development. It never engages in aggression or expansion, never seeks hegemony, and remains a staunch force for upholding regional and world peace and stability," the white paper said.
In the meantime, China has become more involved in bilateral and multilateral cooperations with other countries.
At the beginning of last year, President Hu Jintao paid a state visit to the United States, where Hu and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to establish a partnership based on mutual respect and benefit, setting the tone for China-U.S. ties.
In the same year, Hu and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed to develop a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and lasting friendship in the new decade.
Meanwhile, China chaired the third summit of BRICS nations and promoted the development of regional blocs such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the East Asia Summit.
China also actively fulfilled its commitment to maintaining regional and global peace by deploying 21,000 peacekeepers to date.
During his recent visits to the United States, Ireland and Turkey, Vice President Xi Jinping on various occasions stressed that China will adhere to the road of peaceful development.
Xi said a prosperous and stable China will pose no threat to any country.
Instead, it will become an active player in maintaining and promoting world peace and development, Xi told the opening session of the China-U.S. Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum during his U.S. visit.
It is necessary for Chinese leaders to underscore China's stance of peaceful development on important occasions, Tao said.
"China should elaborate on its opinions and stance more actively so as to dispel Western worries in regards to the so-called China threat," Tao said. "If we keep silent, they will exacerbate and distort the facts as they like."
The upcoming legislative sessions will create a platform for China to voice its stance of peaceful development to the world.
"I hope that all those who are concerned about China could understand the country's stance on peaceful development with a more rational attitude," Tao said.