China will never compromise on its sovereignty, security or development interests, President Xi Jinping said Tuesday at an Army Day celebration.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the ceremony to mark the 90th founding anniversary of the People's Liberation Army, which falls on Aug. 1.

"The Chinese people love peace. We will never seek aggression or expansion, but we have the confidence to defeat all invasions. We will never allow any people, organization or political party to split any part of Chinese territory out of the country at any time, in any form," Xi said.

"No one should expect us to swallow the bitter fruit that is harmful to our sovereignty, security or development interests," he said.