Over 60 officials from China' s various government departments gathered Tuesday in the eastern city of Nanjing to begin a four-day training session on human rights.

During the session, officials will receive lectures on a range of issues concerning human rights, including China's practices of human rights protection, legal and administrative protection of human rights, and the relationship between safe production and human rights protection.

The aim of the training is to enhance awareness among the officials to respect and protect human rights and to urge them to properly execute their power, according to Dong Yunhu, deputy head of the State Council Information Office (SCIO).

He said China has made great headway in its development of human rights protection since the country first published the white book on human rights in 1991.

In April 2009, the SCIO published the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010). It is China's first national plan on the theme of human rights and serves as a policy document for advancing the country's human rights in a comprehensive way.