Sixth Beijing Forum on Human Rights begins

Topics including the construction of an environment for sustainable human rights development, the rule of law, protection of human rights, and international cooperation on human rights issues will be covered in the two-day sixth Beijing Forum on Human Rights, which opened on Thursday.

"Human rights development does not only have one path as countries face different conditions," said Luo Haocai, president of China's largest human rights academic group, the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS), and a former senior political advisor.

"Therefore, countries should seek their own roads for human rights development compatible to their economic, social and cultural development," added Luo.

"The sustainable environment themed in this year's forum includes the rule of law and social construction, as the realization of human rights is closely associated with the improvement of democracy and the rule of law as well as with the progress of people's livelihood," Li Junru, vice president of the CSHRS, told the Global Times.

Cai Mingzhao, head of the Information Office of the State Council, said the Chinese Dream concept that the Communist Party of China put forward last year has its roots in human rights development, as it encourages self struggle in seeking a better life.

"Human rights is an international topic. China is one of the main world players, and it takes a lot more responsibility at the international level for human rights protection," Tom Zwart, director of the Netherlands School of Human Rights Research, told the Global Times Thursday.

The annual event was first held in 2008 and has grown to be a key platform for human rights exchanges among different countries, ethnicities and cultures.