BEIJING - China will never seek hegemony, regardless of its growing power, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai reiterated the official stance Friday.

Cui made the remarks at the second Lanting (Blue Hall) Forum in response to a question on whether China will gradually ignore its former leader Deng Xiaoping' teaching of "maintaining a low profile".

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Cui said that although China's state power had greatly strengthened over the past 30 years after the reform and opening up, China would not change its foreign policy or its development goals, "as it's not in accordance with China's long term interests."

Cui also said it was true that China has made notable progress over the past few years, but it was also true that China still lagged far behind the United States.

The Lanting Forum, initiated by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a platform for communication and exchanges between officials, the business community, academia, media and the public.

The forum aims to create a channel to facilitate discussions on foreign policies and issues of common interests.

The theme of the second Lanting Forum is "China-US Relations in the New Era".