Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Tuesday that China has pressed the "acceleration button" and sounded "the clarion call" for diplomacy.

Qin made the remarks in response to a question from China Media Group about the country's foreign policy and foreign relations this year ahead during a press conference on the sidelines of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing.

"We will follow the guidance of head-of-state diplomacy," he said, adding that China will host the first China-Central Asia Summit and the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation this year.

China stands firmly against any form of hegemonism and power politics, the Cold War mentality, camp-based confrontation or acts that contain and hold back other countries' development, Qin said.

"We will take it as our mission to defend China's core interests," he said. "We will resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty, security and development interests."

China will build on its extensive partnerships, and take openness and development as the objective, said Qin.

"We will reject 'decoupling,' and oppose severing industrial and supply chains and imposing unilateral sanctions," he stressed.

Qin also underscored the importance of multilateralism, and said China will promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, promote greater democracy in international relations, and make global governance more just and equitable.

"The new journey of China's diplomacy will be an expedition with glories and dreams, and it will also be a long voyage through stormy seas," he said, vowing to meet challenges head-on.

China will foster an enabling external environment for building a modern socialist country in all respects, and write a new chapter in China's distinctive major-country diplomacy in the new era, said the Chinese foreign minister.