Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Monday reiterated China's defensive military strategy, meaning China will not attack others first unless being attacked.

Wei made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 9th Beijing Xiangshan Forum in the Chinese capital, after reading a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping. The forum that convened on Sunday will last three days. 

Xi Jinping sends message to China's annual security forum

The size of the Chinese military is maintained at a moderate level, said Wei. In 2015, President Xi announced the process of downsizing China's armed forces the People's Liberation Army (PLA), pledging to reduce the number of personnel by 300,000. 

Currently, China has two million active servicemen and women.

The senior Chinese officer also talked about the transparency of China's military expenditure, adding that it has been kept under two percent of the country's GDP in the past 30 years. That's the lowest among permanent members of the UN Security Council, he said.

Wei also stressed that China will never pursue hegemony or expansion, and will not take part in any arms race.

He stated that China is the only large country in the world that has not yet achieved complete reunification, and to solve the Taiwan question and achieve complete reunification of the motherland is the general righteous trend and the aspirations of the people, which no one nor any force can stop.

China is committed to promoting the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and the process of China's peaceful reunification, but China will never allow Taiwan secessionists to make reckless moves or external forces to intervene in its internal affairs, he added.

South China Sea islands and the Diaoyu Islands and affiliated islands are China's inherent territory and "we can't lose an inch of the land left by our ancestors." Wei noted that China is fully confident in its ability to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests and provide strategic support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Wei emphasized that China does not attach any political conditions to its exchanges with other countries or require other countries to choose sides, and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries or impose its will on others.