| The Chinese Government recently submitted its second report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) to the United Nations.
This important document on human rights follows last year's National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010).
The new report shows China's tremendous achievements in recent years in promoting development, improving people's livelihoods and safeguarding human rights.
As one of the most important international human rights instruments, the ICESCR is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
China signed the ICESCR in 1997 and it was ratified by the National People's Congress in 2001. According to the requirements of the covenant, China submitted its first implementation report to the UN in June 2003, which passed a UN review in 2005.
The second implementation report submitted seven years later detailed China's basic national conditions, participation in international human rights treaties, and the country's legal system and institutional framework for promoting and protecting human rights. The report also lists China's achievements in recent years in promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights in the context of related clauses of the covenant.
As a developing country, China has consistently supported the rights to subsistence and development as the foremost human rights and emphasized economic, social and cultural rights are closely related to people's lives and are as important as citizens' political rights, which is especially true in developing countries like China.
Since the reform and opening up started more than three decades ago, the Chinese Government has firmly walked along the development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It has taken economic construction as the central task, vigorously developed production and provided sufficient food and clothing for its 1.3 billion populations.
China has taken two historic strides in lifting its population out of poverty and starting to build a well-off society. World Bank statistics from 2008 show 67 percent of the progress made in the cause of global poverty reduction during the past 25 years came from China.
Submitting the implementation reports promptly shows China is seriously fulfilling its international legal duties as a signatory country to the covenant. Meanwhile, the reports have helped the international community to understand China's achievements in promoting economic, social and cultural rights.
First, the report documents China's most recent progress in promoting economic, social and cultural rights. In 2009, when fighting against the international financial crisis, the Chinese Government put the improvement of people's livelihoods high on its agenda and has taken practical measures to solve issues of most interest and concern. These measures have shown the Communist Party of China and state leaders attach great importance to safeguarding human rights and recording the progress of China's human rights causes.
Second, the report exhibits the Chinese Government's attitude of actively participating in international human rights cooperation and strictly fulfilling duties stipulated by international treaties. China took the compiling of this implementation report very seriously. In October 2009, a cross-department panel was founded to draft a report according to the UN's new rules. The panel was headed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and included members from nearly 30 departments. It held several conferences to discuss and amend the draft of the report and sought opinions from several national non-governmental organizations and academic institutions.
If by ratifying the covenant China made solemn commitments to the international community to improve human rights, care in writing and the prompt delivery of the implementation reports reflect China's responsible attitude in fulfilling its commitments and implementing its duties.
Third, the report shows the Chinese Government's open, confident and practical approach to its human rights issues. China has a huge population, had a backward economy for a long time, has unbalanced development between rural and urban areas and between different regions, and low per-capita possession of resources.
These factors have all inhibited China's further economic and social development. Although China is one of the largest economies in the world as a whole, its per-capita GDP still does not rank among the first 100 countries. During the next few years, China needs to find jobs for 24 million urban residents every year. China has a population of around 83 million handicapped people.
There is still a long way to go for China to realize all the rights stipulated by the covenant. In the implementation report, the Chinese Government hasn't avoided challenges in implementing the clauses of the covenant and has proposed plans and measures for solving problems in the next stage.
China has entered a new era of building a well-off society in an all-round way. The Chinese Government puts forward and forcefully implements its Scientific Outlook on Development that puts people first and is aimed at comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, strives to build a society highlighting democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice, honesty, friendliness, vigor, stability, order and harmonious co-existence between man and nature.
We believe that under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and with the efforts of all Chinese people, China is bound to realize all the economic, social and culture rights stipulated in the covenant and strives to build a society where all children receive education, laborers are fairly paid, the sick are treated, the elderly are cared for and housing is provided to everyone. We will let the world witness more splendid achievements of China's human rights cause by raising the level of all human rights and freedom enjoyed by China's 1.3 billion people. |
