Workers sort walnuts at the sorting workshop in Xinjiang Guoye Company in Hotan county, Hotan prefecture, in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Sept 27, 2021. [Photo by Zhang Wande/For chinadaily.com.cn]
 

March 17, 2022 -- The full guarantee of labor rights for residents in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has helped them pursue a better life, experts said on Wednesday during an online meeting.

 

The meeting was a side event at the 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. It was organized by the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

 

The pursuit of social progress, economic prosperity and a higher living standard is the most urgent goal for developing countries, said Zheng Liang, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University. Ensuring residents' labor rights is a significant part of realizing the goal, she added.

 

The Xinjiang government has made great effort and investment to ensure people of all ethnic groups have an equal opportunity for development and happy life, such as formulating a series of regional regulations based on local conditions to provide solid guarantees for residents' rights to work, remuneration, rest, leisure and participate in social insurance, Zheng said.

 

Workers' freedom of religious beliefs and the right to use their spoken and written languages to create a good working and living environment were fully respected, she added.

 

Zoon Ahmed Khan, a researcher at the Belt and Road Strategy Institute of Tsinghua University, said Xinjiang's inclusive and targeted approaches toward strengthening labor rights have also validated the importance China places on youth and their future.

 

People in Xinjiang are optimistic, better equipped to contribute to a better future and continue to celebrate their diverse traditions and the unwarranted criticism of Xinjiang has been disqualified by solid evidence, she said.