Human rights devt leads to 40-yr progress: top diplomat

China has made great progress in the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, and this progress took place because China followed “a path of human rights development with Chinese characteristics,” a senior Chinese diplomat said Monday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibit, “Development of Human Rights in China: 40 Years of Reform and Opening-up,” Yu Jianhua, head of the Chinese Mission to the UN in Geneva, said that guided by the people-centered philosophy, China puts the interests of the people above all else in its efforts to promote the human rights cause.

“Based on a clear understanding of the national conditions, China recognizes both the universality and particularity of human rights and promotes the balanced development of economic, social and cultural rights, and civil and political rights,” he noted.

“Committed to promoting human rights through development, China pursues innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development and earnestly implements the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he added.

Li Xiaojun, an official at China’s State Council Information Office, also addressed Monday’s opening ceremony and discussed the tremendous role of the reform and opening-up in promoting the development of China’s human rights cause.

The exhibit, launched on the first day of the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council, was jointly sponsored by the Chinese Mission to the UN in Geneva and China’s State Council Information Office.