Full Text: Progress in China's Human Rights in 2013

Foreign Exchanges and Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights

In 2013 China continued to take the initiative in exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the realm of human rights. It played a constructive role in the UN's human rights bodies and endeavored to promote the sound development of human rights on the international stage.

Participating in UN multilateral human rights conferences. Chinese delegations attended the relevant meetings of the Third Committee of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly and the Committee on Non-governmental Organizations, and the 22nd to 24th sessions of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), and participated in the 15th to 17th sessions of the HRC's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Team. In those meetings, China played a constructive role by stating its views on human rights policies and proactively participating in reviews and discussions of human rights issues.

Passing the UPR second cycle. China passed its second UPR in October 2013 at Geneva. Representatives of the most of the 137 states participating the review fully acknowledged China's achievements and progress in human rights, supporting China in further promoting and protecting human rights based on its actual conditions. With an open mind and in a serious manner, the Chinese government positively responded to the suggestions and opinions raised by other countries' representatives during the review, accepting 204 opinions (81 percent of all the opinions) concerning over 20 fields, including poverty reduction, education and the judiciary. The review report of China's second UPR was adopted by the HRC March 20, 2014.

Attaching great importance to the implementation of international human rights conventions. China has joined 26 international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In 2013 China submitted to the Committee Against Torture (CAT) the sixth report of its implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. China's consolidated report of the third and fourth implementations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and first report of implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict passed the review of the Committee on the Rights of the Child without a hitch.

Taking an active part in UN activities concerning human rights. On November 12, 2013, China was elected with 176 votes an HRC member state for 2014-2016. China continued to support the work of the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), promising to raise its donations to the OHCHR to US$800,000 each year from 2014 to 2017. It received a visit from the HRC's working group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice. The Chinese government actively participated in and promoted the intergovernmental process of the UN General Assembly on strengthening and enhancing the effective functioning of the human rights treaty body system, and attended several rounds of multilateral unofficial negotiations and seminars to set forth its position and assertions on improving the human rights treaty body system. Chinese experts were elected as members of the HRC Advisory Committee and CAT.

Increasing mutual understanding through dialogues and communication on human rights. China held human rights communication and discussions with Russia and Pakistan, and human rights dialogues with the United States, the European Union, Germany and other countries. It sent legal experts to hold dialogues with their US counterparts, conducted technical cooperation projects on human rights with Australia and received a visit from the European Union's Special Representative for Human Rights. It also sent a delegation to attend the 13th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Informal Seminar on Human Rights. The China Society for Human Rights Studies and the China Foundation for Human Rights Development jointly held the sixth session of the Beijing Forum on Human Rights. Focusing on "Constructing an Environment for Sustainable Human Rights Development," the forum discussed in a broad and profound way the relationship between human rights and the rule of law, social progress and regional security.

Working closely with other countries, China will continue to spare no efforts to promote the healthy development of human rights worldwide.