China champions people-centered, outward-looking human rights approach

People taste grapes at a grape fair in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Aug. 17, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's human rights approach emphasizes pragmatism, diversity, and mutual respect, as demonstrated by its poverty eradication efforts and global cooperation initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative. 

This was highlighted at the 2025 Asian Forum on Human Rights, held in Chongqing on April 19. Under the theme "Science & Technology and Human Rights," the forum brought together regional scholars to discuss technology's impact on human rights.

Chen Youwu, executive director of the Human Rights and Rule of Law Research Center at Guangdong University of Technology, said China's human rights philosophy centers on serving people and prioritizing their well-being. He noted that this principle — that people's happiness is the greatest human right — grants human rights a powerful guiding role in the development of science and technology, promoting technology that benefits society.

Kanatbek Aziz, director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kyrgyzstan, examined the connection between digital governance and human rights. He identified three prevailing models: the European approach, which emphasizes personal data protection; the American system, driven by corporate interests where users are often treated as products; and the Chinese framework, which focuses on digital sovereignty, strategic planning and national security.

Aziz praised China's Global AI Governance Initiative as a necessary contribution to international discussions on technology regulation. "The initiative emphasizes the need for safe, orderly and reliable development of artificial intelligence," he said. "This reflects China's commitment to establishing international frameworks where AI is guided by justice, inclusiveness and technological ethics."

Liu Hongzhen, deputy director of the Human Rights Center at Jilin University, warned that some Western powers misuse both human rights and technology to maintain dominance and escalate geopolitical tensions, citing U.S. attempts to limit China's technological progress.

"The diversity of human rights must be respected, and both hegemonism and the instrumentalization of rights must be resisted," Liu said. "We should approach technological competition through the lens of human rights, thereby promoting reform in global technology governance systems."

Beyond technology, China's commitment to human rights is also demonstrated in its domestic development efforts. Li Zhongxia, deputy director of the Human Rights Research Center at Renmin University of China, highlighted China's poverty alleviation campaign, which lifted 832 impoverished counties and nearly 100 million rural residents out of poverty. The achievement secured basic survival and development rights, which Li described as a major step forward for global human rights.

"If basic needs are not met, discussing political rights becomes detached from reality," Li said. "Human rights development must respond to the people's most urgent needs."

China's commitment to human rights also extends beyond its borders. Through multilateral platforms such as China-ASEAN cooperation, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Belt and Road Initiative, China continues to promote peace, security and sustainable development throughout Asia and beyond.

Recent joint statements with Vietnam and Cambodia emphasized that human rights should be pursued according to national conditions, while opposing the politicization of human rights and the application of double standards. The statements also rejected using such issues to interfere in sovereign nations' internal affairs.