Editor's note: Guo Jinyue, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an associate research fellow at the Department for American Studies, China Institute of International Studies. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Recently, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee released a report titled "The Price of Retreat: America Cedes Global Leadership to China." While ostensibly criticizing the Trump Administration's foreign strategy, the report effectively hypes up the misinterpretation about so-called "America retreating and China advancing" and "China replacing America." It reflects persistent misunderstandings among some American politicians about China's intentions of development.

Does China seek to replace the United States? The answer is an obvious "No." China does not aim to supplant America – such ambitions did not exist in the past, nor will they arise opportunistically now.

As early as 1974, before China-U.S. diplomatic normalization, former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping declared solemnly at the United Nations: "China is not a superpower, nor will she ever seek to be one."

What, then, defines the internal logic of China's development? Over 5,000 years of civilizational progress, the Chinese nation has made profound contributions to human advancement. In the meantime, the nation also experienced a development process of hardship. We once missed out on the Industrial Revolution, endured severe internal strife and external aggression, and teetered on the edge of a subjugation crisis. Catching up with the times and achieving national rejuvenation has been the long-held aspiration of generations of Chinese people. This is a process of self-renewal and self-improvement, not using other nations as reference points.

Like people of all countries, the Chinese people cherish life and aspire to better education, employment, healthcare, housing, and environmental quality. We hope our children will grow up, work, and have a better future compared with that of their parents. To meet these needs and to fulfill the Chinese people's rights to pursue a better life, China must continuously develop itself.

For instance, with 5.62 billion domestic tourist trips recorded in 2024 – a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase – the country must boost household incomes and invest in culture, transportation, and hospitality sectors.

While Americans deeply value democracy and freedom, these principles are also important tenets of China's socialist core values. To make these core values concrete, we also prioritize the right to development.

Democracy and freedom without a material foundation are like "castles built on sand or reflections in water" – illusory and unsustainable. Thus, China pursues coordinated progress in economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological domains, ensuring no facet of development is neglected.

Regarding China's development goals, some American observers have a relatively rational understanding. In many cases, China has sought to improve, rather than eliminate, postwar international rules, reflecting its "long-standing and intense defensiveness against intrusions into China's domestic affairs" and "exercise of sovereignty."

When China becomes a better version of itself, it can contribute more to making the world a better place. On October 15, 2003, Yang Liwei, China's "first man in space," displayed the Chinese national flag as well as the UN flag in space. This embodies the Chinese cultural sentiment of "The whole world is one family," and it vividly reflects the concept of a community with a shared future for humanity.

There is only one Earth for humanity, and China and the United States coexist in the same world. With their populations accounting for a quarter of the world's total and their combined economic output exceeding one-third of the global total, China and the United States should work together to bring about more benefits, progress and hope for each other and for the world, rather than harm, retrogression or worries.

At present, both China and the U.S. are committed to enabling their people to live better lives. The two countries can completely appreciate their own strengths, appreciate each other's merits, achieve mutual success, and prosper together. On the way forward, China is willing to coexist peacefully and achieve win-win cooperation with the United States on the basis of conforming to the interests of the two peoples and responding to the expectations of the people around the world. In doing so, China has no desire to become another United States.

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