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May 05,2023   By:en.humanrights.cn

UN stresses importance of right to development

The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council held a high-level meeting on Feb. 28 and March 1 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, stressing that the landmark declaration was a ground-breaking achievement.

"The time had come to recognize the right to development as a human right -- on a par with other human rights and fundamental freedoms," said Amina J. Mohammed, UN deputy secretary-general and chair of the UN Sustainable Development Group.

From: Xinhua

Chinese prosecutors highlight juvenile protection in case handling

Chinese prosecutors have been taking a prudent approach to handling criminal cases involving juveniles, delivering targeted services to help them mend their ways and successfully re-enter into society.

Procuratorates have been implementing the policy of education, persuasion and redemption in handling juvenile delinquency cases, said Tong Jianming, deputy procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP), at a press conference on March 1.

From: Xinhua

Solid policies set to ensure stability of employment, official says

China's job market had a good start in the first two months of 2023 and is expected to stay stable this year as the country's economy continues to recover, with fundamentals remaining sound and the government taking effective measures to support employment.

"The job market's performance in the first two months was better than expected," Wang Xiaoping, minister of human resources and social security, said at a news conference in Beijing on March 2. "Migrant workers looked forward to resuming work during the Spring Festival holiday in January, and companies launched recruitment campaigns to help them resume production soon after the holiday."

From: China Daily

China inaugurates national university for the aged

Elderly people in China will have the opportunity to continue their education in a national-level university from the 2023 spring semester onwards.

The establishment of The Seniors University of China (SUC) for the aged is a concrete measure to address population aging in China and an important milestone in the reform and development of education for the elderly, said China's Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng, at the inauguration ceremony on March 3.

From: Xinhua

China ensures food security, boosts rural revitalization over past 5 years: report

China ensured food security and vigorously implemented the rural revitalization strategy during the past five years, according to a government work report submitted on March 5 to the national legislature for deliberation.

The country increased the area of high-standard cropland by 30.4 million hectares during the period, while raising the rate of mechanization in crops plowing, planting and harvesting from 67 percent to 73 percent, the report said.

From: Xinhua

China secures victory against poverty over past 5 years: report

China has secured victory in the critical battle against poverty within the set time frame and worked to consolidate and build on achievements in poverty alleviation, according to a government work report submitted on March 5 to the national legislature for deliberation.

The country has worked both to consolidate achievements in poverty alleviation and to promote the revitalization of rural areas over the past five years, said the report.

From: Xinhua

China steadily improves people's wellbeing over past 5 years: report

China took concrete steps to improve the people's wellbeing and accelerated the development of social programs over the past five years, according to a government work report submitted Sunday to the national legislature for deliberation.

The country kept annual budgetary spending on education at over 4 percent of GDP and realized a significant increase in spending per student, the report said.

From: Xinhua

Tibetan roads reach out to rural areas

The Tibet autonomous region invested heavily in traffic and transportation projects last year, steering nearly 36.7 billion yuan ($5.36 billion) to such projects with more than 16 billion yuan used for fixed-asset investment, according to the region's traffic and transportation department.

Thanks to the heavy investment, Tibet's 662 townships and 4,382 villages have been linked by paved roads. Ninety-five percent of its townships and 78 percent of its villages are now connected by roads, the department said on March 6 during the region's annual work conference on traffic and transportation.

From: CHINA DAILY

China to further protect personal information, fight cyber crimes

Chinese courts will intensify protection of personal information and strictly punish information and cyber crimes this year, according to a report submitted by the Supreme People's Court to the national legislature for deliberation on March 7.

The report reviews the progress China has made in personal information protection. The top court has issued a judicial interpretation concerning facial recognition, and a series of cases involving infringements on privacy and personal information have been handled over the past five years.

From: Xinhua

China files more public interest litigation cases to protect environment: report

China has increasingly used public interest litigation to protect the natural environment, according to a work report of the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Over the past five years, China's procuratorial authorities have handled 395,000 public interest lawsuits regarding the protection of ecology and natural resources, with an average annual rise of 12.5 percent, said the report submitted to the ongoing national legislature session for deliberation on March 7.

From: Xinhua

China to improve elderly-care work mechanism

China will improve its elderly-care work mechanism to implement the proactive national strategy in response to population aging and to expand the basic elderly-care services to cover all senior citizens, according to a reform plan of State Council institutions submitted March 7 to the national legislature for deliberation.

From: Xinhua

Reports give details on country's judicial actions

Chinese judicial authorities stepped up efforts to maintain social stability and national security over the past five years.

From 2018 to 2022, 8.27 million suspects were prosecuted for alleged crimes and more than 7.76 million were sentenced, according to work reports unveiled by the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Supreme People's Court on March 7.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

China steps up judicial protection for women, children: reports

China's judicial authorities have stepped up protection of the rights and interests of women and children, dealing with domestic violence with stronger measures and taking a zero-tolerance stance for crimes against minors.

Over the past five years, nearly 9 million marriage- and family-related cases were concluded across the country, and 13,000 personal protection orders were issued, according to a report submitted by the top court to the national legislature for deliberation on March 7.

From: Xinhua

Drop in juvenile criminals, greater protection of minors, work report says

The number of juvenile criminals dropped to 28,000 in 2022 from 56,000 in 2013, thanks to stronger efforts by courts to educate children and helping to prevent them from committing offenses, according to a recent work report.

Over the past five years, courts have taken measures to protect rights of children during case handling, and have also worked with educational and cyberspace administrations to strengthen juvenile protection by publishing judicial guidelines, according to the work report of the Supreme People's Court, China's top court.

It was submitted to the ongoing first session of the 14th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, for deliberation on March 7.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

Tibet boarding schools narrow the rural-urban education gap

The boarding school system in Tibet has maximized education opportunities for the children of farmers and herdsmen in remote areas of the region, and decades of practice have fully proved that, said Talo, director of the social and economic research institute of China Tibetology Research Center.
 
"As one of the universal teaching models in the human history of education, boarding schools are commonplace in both Chinese and European history. We should not deny this educational model just because astonishing tragedies once happened in colonial-era residential schools in Canada, Australia, and the United States," he said.
 
Talo made the remarks on a side session held by the Society for Human Rights Studies on March 9 at the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

Tibet boarding schools are not 'assimilation'

Reports about China's "assimilation" in boarding schools in the Tibet autonomous region are smears aimed at misleading the public, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on March 9, urging related media outlets to respect facts.

Mao made the remarks after some Western reports accused the Chinese government of "assimilating" people of the Tibetan ethnic group "culturally, religiously and linguistically" through boarding schools.

From: China Daily

Healthcare fund reduced COVID costs for public

China's healthcare insurance fund covered COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination expenses worth a total of 150 billion yuan ($21.6 billion) from 2021 to last year, and paid out 4.3 billion yuan for nucleic acid tests in 2022 alone, the National Healthcare Insurance Administration said on March 9.

Through negotiations with vaccine manufacturers, each dose of COVID-19 vaccine based on inactivated, recombinant protein or adenovirus vector technologies was priced at around 16 yuan.

From: China Daily

China's basic medical insurance fund balance surpasses 4t yuan

China's basic medical insurance fund recorded an accumulated balance of 4.25 trillion yuan (about $610.15 billion) at the end of 2022, statistics from the National Healthcare Security Administration showed on March 9.

The income and expenditure of the fund hit nearly 3.07 trillion yuan and 2.44 trillion yuan, respectively, in 2022, according to the administration.

From: Xinhua

CSHRS experts refute disinformation on Xinjiang, Xizang at UNHRC

People from China have the final say on what the country's human rights situation is and a group of experts from a nongovernmental organization in China introduced the practices of China's human rights at a sideline event of the ongoing 52nd session of the Human Rights Council with some experts of ethnic minorities refuting some Western media's disinformation on China's Xizang and Xinjiang regions.

The sideline event was held by the China Society for Human Rights Studies on March 9 in Geneva. It offered an opportunity for Chinese scholars in the human rights field to have more face-to-face exchanges in Geneva with international experts and NGOs after attending the UN Human Rights Council via video link due to COVID-19 reasons.

From: Global Times

Tibet makes further transportation infrastructure progress

Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region made further progress in transportation infrastructure development in 2022, bringing the total length of roads open to traffic to 121,400 km, the regional transportation authority said on March 10.

In 2022, the plateau region invested almost 16.39 billion yuan (about $2.35 billion) in fixed assets for road transportation.

From: Xinhua

China's forest coverage rate hits 24%

The forest coverage rate in China has reached about 24 percent, with 231 million hectares of forests. And 265 million hectares of grassland cover about 50 percent of the country's land areas, according to a report released by the National Afforestation Committee on March 12.

The day marks the 45th National Tree Planting Day.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

Experts give testimony on women's rights at HRC session

China is empowering women by amending protection laws and eliminating discrimination to promote gender equality and social progress, experts said at a sideline event of the ongoing 52nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland on March 13.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

China's food security well guaranteed: Premier

China's food security is well guaranteed on the whole, and China will make sure that the rice bowls of its 1.4 billion people will always be firmly held in their own hands, Premier Li Qiang said on March 13.

The annual grain output in China has remained steady at over 650 million tonnes for eight years in a row, Li told a press conference.

From: Xinhua

Employment-first policy remains a priority, premier says

China will continue implementing its employment-first policy to stabilize the job market, and the growing "talent dividend" brought by increasing schooling years for laborers will boost the nation's economic development, according to the premier.

Premier Li Qiang said at a news conference on March 13 in Beijing that employment is the foundation of people's livelihood, and the fundamental way to tackle employment issues is to develop the economy.
 

From: chinadaily.com.cn

Officials called upon to listen to public needs

The State Council must take the lead in meeting the Communist Party of China Central Committee's requirement to promote research and studies, Premier Li Qiang said on March 13, calling for government officials to step out of their offices and interact more at the grassroots.

This is one of the four priorities Li laid out for the new government to improve its capacity at a news conference following the conclusion of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress, during which he was endorsed as premier.

From: China Daily

Chinese groups take part in human rights talks in Geneva

Representatives from international and non-governmental organizations from China and abroad attended a forum in Geneva on March 14 to discuss the participation of non-governmental organizations in the promotion of human rights protection and global development.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Co-hosts included the China NGO Network for International Exchanges, the Geneva Agape Foundation, the Chinese Association For International Understanding, the China Foundation for Rural Development and the Peaceland Foundation.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

Regulation to ensure safety at nurseries

China's top health authority has released its first regulation on home nursery care providers as part of its efforts to develop various childcare services to alleviate pressure on parents and lift birthrates.

The National Health Commission published a trial rule on home nursery care providers — agencies that transform residential places into nursery care facilities for children aged three and under — on March 15. The document is soliciting public opinion until April 14.

From: China Daily

Chinese courts step up protection for e-consumers' rights, interests

Chinese courts at all levels concluded 32,000 first-instance cases related to online shopping contract disputes in 2022, a significant increase from the 12,000 in 2018, according to the Supreme People's Court (SPC) on March 15.

Over the past five years, courts across China concluded 99,000 cases of first instance arising from disputes over online shopping contracts, and 23,000 concerning service contract disputes, He Xiaorong, vice president of the SPC, told a press conference.

From: Xinhua

Online consumers' rights better protected

Consumers have been given stronger protection in cyberspace, thanks to judicial efforts made by courts over the past five years.

"With the fast development of the digital economy in China, online consumption has become more popular with the public, and it has also brought more disputes in this regard," He Xiaorong, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, the country's top court, said at a news conference on March 15, World Consumer Rights Day.

From: China Daily

Legislation framework keeping cyberspace safe

China has consolidated its legal system for cyberspace governance over the years, providing a strong institutional guarantee for building the country's strength in cyberspace, officials said while introducing a white paper.

Titled "China's Law-Based Cyberspace Governance in the New Era", the paper was issued by the State Council Information Office on March 16.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

Xinjiang to have 27 airports in 2023

The number of airports in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will reach 27 in 2023, ranking first in China, local authorities said on March 17.

Among the regional airport construction projects scheduled to be carried out this year, four projects will continue, and three will be started, according to Xinjiang Airport Group Co Ltd.

From: Xinhua

Fairs aim to increase jobs for graduates

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has launched a special recruitment campaign from March 19 to May 26 aimed at achieving fuller employment of college graduates.

The campaign targets this year's new college graduates and those who graduated in previous years and have not yet found employment, according to a release from the ministry.

From: China Daily

China's foreign ministry releases report on state of democracy in U.S. in 2022

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 20 released a report on its website titled "The State of Democracy in the United States: 2022."

Based on facts, media comments and expert opinions, the report aims to present a real picture of American democracy over the past year.

It reveals that American democracy was in chaos at home and that a trail of havoc and disasters were left behind as the United States peddled and imposed its democracy around the globe. It is hoped that the report will help remove the facade of American democracy for more people worldwide, the report says.

From: Xinhua

So-called country reports released by U.S. reflect its double standards: Chinese FM

The China-related content of the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices is fraught with political lies and ideological prejudice, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on March 21.

Wang made the remarks after U.S. Secretary of State Blinken delivered remarks on the release of the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and criticized China’s human rights conditions.

From: Ecns.cn

China's democracy beneficial to sustainable development

Democracy, a model of governance that reflects and responds to the needs of its citizens, is significant and beneficial to sustainable development, experts and scholars agreed at an international forum on democracy held in Beijing on March 22.

"Democracy is a method of governance in which all people participate to ensure the interests of the majority are met," Jiao Shixin, professor of China studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences told the 2nd International Forum on Democracy: Shared Human Values.

From: chinadaily.com.cn

China's higher education enrollment ratio reaches 59.6 pct in 2022

The gross enrollment ratio in China's higher education reached 59.6 percent in 2022, up 1.8 percentage points from 2021, the Ministry of Education said on March 23.

There were over 46.55 million students at higher-educational institutions including universities, colleges and vocational education facilities across the country as of 2022, the ministry told a press conference.

From: Xinhua

Seminar on Chinese democracy, human rights protection held in Hunan

A seminar on Chinese democracy and human rights protection was held on March 26 in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province.

More than 30 experts and scholars from research institutions and related organizations attended the meeting.

From: Xinhua

Tibetans mark anniversary of emancipation of serfs

People from all walks of life across the Tibet autonomous region held activities on March 28 to mark the 64th anniversary of the abolition of feudal serfdom and celebrate the liberation of a million serfs.

Since 2009, March 28 has been celebrated in the region as Serfs' Emancipation Day. The annual commemoration recalls the democratic reforms of 1959 in the Tibet autonomous region that ended feudal serfdom.

From: China Daily

Efforts urged to improve elder care

Premier Li Qiang underlined on March 29 the need to offer higher-standard elder care and healthcare services to boost people's quality of life.

Speaking during a fact-finding trip to Haikou, Hainan province, Li emphasized the importance of putting in place a national strategy of proactively responding to the aging society and strengthening services in elder care.

From: chinadaily.com.cn