Human rights 'progress' hailed

China has been working effectively toward goals set by the National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-15), with most quantitative targets at least half fulfilled in the past two years, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"China has made considerable progress in human rights protection," said Cai Mingzhao, director of the State Council Information Office, at a meeting during which an interim review of the action plan was conducted.

Last year, the disposable income of urban residents grew by 7 percent, while per capita net income of rural residents rose by 9.3 percent, and the country's poor rural population decreased by 16.5 million compared with 2012, according to Cai.

In 2013, the ratio of elected deputies to represented population in the National People's Congress, the national legislature, was the same for rural and urban areas for the first time.

Meanwhile, the interests and rights of ethnic minorities, women, children, the elderly and disabled have been better protected, and international exchanges and cooperation in the field of human rights have also progressed, Cai said.

The Chinese government publicized the National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-2015) in June 2012. The plan promises to address challenges and work for the happiness and dignity of every citizen.

The plan is China's second national plan for human rights protection and serves as a policy document for advancing the country's human rights.

All targets and tasks set by the previous action plan, which covered 2009 and 2010, were fulfilled as scheduled.