BEIJING -- "Cultivate people through culture" -- President Xi Jinping has, on various occasions, quoted the idiom to emphasize the essential role of culture in nurturing people morally and intellectually.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, often stressed the importance of strong cultural confidence and thriving culture in the pursuit of national rejuvenation.

Xi once said in a meeting that since ancient times, the status and influence of the Chinese people globally have not been built on violence or expansion but the appeal of the Chinese culture.

Xi described winning people by virtue and cultivating people through culture as a crucial part of the quintessence of the Chinese nation.

The traditional ideal of cultivating people rather than conquering them, and through culture rather than violence, made the Chinese civilization so distinguished in history and inspires today's China to uphold the path of peaceful development and the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

"Aggression and hegemony are not in the blood of the Chinese people. Our people hope to successfully realize national development, but they also hope to see all peoples of the world leading happy and peaceful lives," Xi has said.

"China will remain a champion of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order, and we will do our very best to make even greater contributions to humanity," he added.