Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo addresses the opening session of the fourth round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing, capital of China, May 3, 2012. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo said Thursday that no one should expect the Chinese people to leave their own path.

Dai made the remarks at the opening session of the fourth round the China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogues.

He pointed out in particular that the fundamental way to managing state-to-state relations is to abide by the basic norms governing international relations, namely, to respect each other's sovereignty, core interests and choice of social system and development path."

"This is particularly important for the relations between major countries," Dai said.

"The 1.3 billion Chinese people have the right to take a development path different from that of the United States and other western countries, a path that truly suits China's national conditions and benefits not only the Chinese people but also the whole world," he added.

The fourth round of the China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) started Thursday morning in Beijing.

The dialogue is co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Dai Bingguo, special representatives of Chinese President Hu Jintao, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, special representatives of U.S. President Barack Obama.