Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for joint efforts to seek and safeguard peace.

History has shown that hegemony, group politics and bloc confrontations bring neither peace nor stability, but rather war and conflict, said Xi in a keynote speech delivered in virtual format at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum.

The Ukraine crisis has again sounded the alarm for humanity: Countries will surely end up in security hardships if they place blind faith in their positions of strength, expand military alliances, and seek their own safety at the expense of others, Xi said.

Noting that safeguarding peace is the common cause of all humanity, Xi said that only if everyone cherishes and upholds peace, and remembers and learns from the bitter lessons of war, can there be the hope of peace.

"Facing the turmoil and instability in the world, we should keep firmly in mind the original aspiration of the UN Charter, as well as our mission to promote peace," Xi said.

Urging the international community to abandon zero-sum games and jointly oppose hegemony and power politics, Xi called for the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, equity and justice, and mutually beneficial cooperation.