Human Rights Council adopts periodic review on China

The report of the second round of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on China was adopted on Friday by the Working Group on the UPR of the Human Rights Council (HRC).

Wu Haitao, deputy head of the Chinese delegation, said in his statement that the Chinese delegation appreciates the spirit of independence, impartiality, transparency and dedication that has been demonstrated in the preparation of the report.

He added that the report is in general an objective and balanced reflection of the review of China by the working group.

"We think the vast majority of the recommendations in the report are well-intentioned and constructive. China will carefully study these recommendations, positively consider them in light of China's national conditions and give feedback before the HRC session next March," said Wu.

Due to differences in history, cultural tradition, economic development level and social system, countries face different challenges and priority tasks in the field of human rights, and their paths toward human rights development are bound to differ as well, according to Wu. He said that to judge whether a path is good or not, the key is to see whether it meets people's needs and aspirations and brings benefits to the people.

Wu said that it is proved that the human rights development path chosen by the Chinese people suits China's national conditions and is a right path to follow. He said China will continue to explore new ways and measures for the promotion and protection of human rights, and step up exchanges and mutual learning with other countries for common progress.

"I believe that by the next round of the UPR on China, further progress will have been made in the living standard of the Chinese people, our democratic system, the rule of law, cultural development, social security, environmental protection, and international human rights exchanges and cooperation," said Wu.

The review of China was held on Tuesday. The 17th session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group began in Geneva on October 21 and is expected to end on November 1. In total, 15 states are scheduled to have their human rights records reviewed under this mechanism.

The UPR mechanism was established by the Human Rights Council in June 2007 with the aim to ensure that all UN member states will have their records reviewed in order to improve human rights conditions worldwide.

China went through the first UPR in 2009, during which the Chinese government accepted 42 recommendations made by other countries, including making greater efforts to improve people's lives, reduce poverty, deepen the reform of judicial system, protect the rights of ethnic minority groups, and help other developing countries achieve the right to development.