China has never wanted to ‘challenge or replace’ the US – Vice FM

China has never wanted “to replace” the United States, and has no interest in playing power games, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday. His statement comes amid strained ties between the world’s two largest economies.

Speaking at an academic forum, Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng noted that there had been speculation China would assume the United States’ “hegemonistic” position in the world, Reuters reported.

“This does not accord with the facts, nor the trend of the development of the times,” Le said. “China has never wanted to challenge the US or replace it, seizing other people’s position. Our goal is to let the Chinese people live a good life, and continually improve our governance,” he noted.

China advocates a multi-polar world and the maintenance of multilateralism and free trade, Le added.