1st Ld: China publishes new action plan on human rights

The Chinese government on Thursday published its third national action plan on human rights protection, addressing challenges and promising to improve people's standard of living and quality of life.

The National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2016-2020), released by the State Council Information Office (SCIO), follows the previous two which covered 2009-2010 and 2012-2015 periods.

According to the new action plan, the period from 2016 to 2020 is a decisive stage for China to build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way.

Although China's human rights protection has moved up to a new level, problems remain, including those closely related to the people's vital interests, the plan said.

The rule of law in safeguarding human rights needs to be further promoted and more efforts are required to realize higher levels of human rights protection, it said.

In an interview with Xinhua, an official of the SCIO said the action plan synchronizes with the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020), with the protection of human rights running in parallel with economic and social development over the next five years.

The action plan vows more resources and policy support for rural, remote and under-developed areas and aims to ensure equal access to public services, said the official.

In the coming five years, the Chinese government will combine human rights with economic, political, cultural and social progress, ecological protection and Party building and adhere to the people-centered development approach, according to the action plan.

China will put the protection of people's rights to subsistence and development in the first place and take people's well-being and all-round development as both the starting point and ultimate goal of China's human rights work, it said.

The joint meeting mechanism as well as supervision and assessment will be improved to ensure the implementation of the action plan, it said. Endi