The Olympics will showcase China's peace-loving image and its determination to embrace peace, President Hu Jintao told foreign journalists in Beijing on Friday.

Hu made the comments during a group interview with journalists from 25 international media organizations. He said the Games were "a grand activity of peace and friendship" in response to a question from an Aljazeera reporter.

The president was asked whether China worries that a successful Beijing Olympics, which could enhance China's national strength, would intensify the so-called "China Threat" theory. His response was that China is still the biggest developing country in the world despite its remarkable progress in modernization over the past 30 years.

The problems China faces in its development process are unusual, he said.

"We will build a comprehensive welfare society benefiting a billion of our population, so as to realize national modernization and the common good of all Chinese people. China still has a long way to go," Hu said.

China has explicitly announced that it observes a defensive military policy and will never seek hegemony or military expansion. China will unswervingly adin Beijing to the road of peaceful development and the opening-up strategy aimed for mutual benefits, Hu said.

The president said Chinese people wish to join hands with people across the globe to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.

President warns against politicizing Olympics

Chinese President Hu Jintao warned that policitizing the Olympics runs counter to the Olympic spirit and will not work.

"Politicizing the Olympics runs against the Olympic spirit and the shared aspirations of people all over the world," Hu said.

The interview came a week ahead of the start of the Beijing Olympic Games.

"It is inevitable that people hold divergent views on issues, but politicizing the Olympics will not address those issues," Hu said. "Instead, those issues can be resolved on the basis of mutual respect, by narrowing the differences and expanding common ground."