The President, Mrs McAleese, has urged both parts of the island of Ireland to confront racism.
She was speaking at a reception in south Belfast which has seen spiralling rates of crime directed against immigrants and ethnic minority communities.
Mrs McAleese met members of Belfast's Chinese community and told them they had honoured the Irish people by choosing this country as their home. The Chinese form the largest single ethnic minority within Northern Ireland with around 10,000 people.
Mrs McAleese warned that racists in Ireland were likely to target "anybody who looks a little bit different." She said: "I hope that between all of us, working in dialogue and showing mutual respect, that we set an example to those who, in their ignorance and their stupidity, dare to regard any other human being as less than worthy of respect.
Chinese families have been subjected to racist threats in the loyalist Donegall Pass area of the city, near where Mrs McAleese hosted the reception. Earlier this year, a leaflet campaign was waged in the community warning of the "influx of yellow people" and calling on locals to rediscover their loyalist identity.
In the Sandy Row area, residents have protested outside an apartment development which is home to a range of nationalities.
The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Mr Tom Ekin, and his deputy, Mr Joe O'Donnell, attended the event.
Mrs McAleese, who paid a state visit to China earlier this year, said: "With our peace process now in place, we want to invest in friendship building. We want everybody who comes here to feel welcome."