1. The present report was prepared in accordance with the General Guidelines for the Preparation of Information under the Universal Periodic Review set out in
document A/HRC/6/L.24. It focuses on the legislative framework and institutional infrastructure, policies and practice, current challenges and future prospects for the promotion and protection of human rights in China, including the Mainland, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR). Chapters VI and VII provide separate accounts of the situations in HKSAR and MSAR; in keeping with the principle of “one country, two systems”, these chapters were prepared by the Governments of the respective Special Administrative Regions.
2. A special task force was established to prepare this report. The task force was composed of members from nearly 30 national legislative, judiciary and administrative departments (see list in annex 1), with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as its focal point. Oral and written consultations were held with nearly 20 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academic institutions (see list in annex 2), including the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the All-China Women’s Federation, the China Society for Human Rights Studies and the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Broad public consultations were conducted via the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
B. China in brief
3. China has one of the longest histories of any country in the world. After 1840, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country as a result of invasions by foreign Powers. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded and the Chinese people won national independence and liberation. Since then, the Chinese people have become the masters of the
country in the true sense, and a fundamental social and political system for the promotion and protection of human rights has been established.
4. China is the world’s largest developing country, with a land mass of some 9.6 million square kilometres. It has a population of some 1.32 billion, accounting for 21 per cent of the world’s total.
There are 56 ethnic groups in China and all are equal.
5. The Chinese Government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macao in 1997 and 1999 respectively and established the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
C. China’s basic position on human rights and the situation of human rights in China
6. China respects the principle of the universality of human rights and considers that all
countries have an obligation to adopt measures continuously to promote and protect human rights in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant provisions of international human rights instruments, and in the light of their national realities. The international community should respect the principle of the indivisibility of human rights and attach equal importance to civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights as well as the right to development. Given differences in political systems, levels of development and historical
and cultural backgrounds, it is natural for countries to have different views on the question of human rights. It is therefore important that countries engage in dialogue and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect in their common endeavour to promote and protect human rights.
7. Since 1978, when China launched its policy of reform and opening up, there has been a significant advancement in the level and extent of the Chinese people’s enjoyment of all human rights. The Chinese people, who once lacked basic necessities, are now enjoying relative prosperity.
There has been constant progress in such social spheres as education, culture and public health.
Democracy and the rule of law have gradually improved. Political restructuring has progressed steadily, with more extensive citizen participation in the political life of the country. Governments at all levels are now conscientiously implementing the Scientific Outlook on Development, an approach that places people first and seeks to ensure comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development, in an effort to build a harmonious society characterized by democracy, the rule of law, equity and justice. China will further deepen its political restructuring and accelerate social development, focusing on education, health care, employment and other aspects of the people’s welfare in order to ensure that all people enjoy their rights to equal participation and equal development.
8. China is committed to engaging in exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the field of human rights and to promoting the adoption by the international community of a fair, objective and non-selective approach to the handling of human rights issues.
II. THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
A. The Constitution
9. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China expressly stipulates that “the State respects and safeguards human rights”. Chapter II of the Constitution sets out in detail the fundamental rights and duties of citizens, including civil and political rights, such as the right to vote and to stand for election, freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration, of religious belief, of correspondence and of the person; and economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to work, to rest, to education, to social security and to engage in academic and creative pursuits. The Constitution also has specific provisions on the protection of the rights of women, the elderly, minors, persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities.
B. National human rights legislation and international human rights instruments
10. Over the past three decades of reform and opening up, the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee have enacted nearly 250 laws relating to the protection of human rights. China has developed a fairly comprehensive legal system to safeguard human rights: this system has the Constitution as its core and encompasses a number of other essential laws, such as the Law on Legislation, the Criminal Law, the Criminal Procedure Law, the Administrative Procedure Law, the Law on Administrative Review, the Judges Law, the Public Prosecutors Law, the People’s Police Law, the Lawyers Law, the Law on State Compensation, the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women, the Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities, the Law on the Protection of Minors, the Compulsory Education Law, the Property Rights Law, the Labour Law and the Work Safety Law. In the legislative process, legislative bodies at all levels consistently seek to draw on the people’s wisdom and reflect the
people’s will. In the case of legislation having a bearing on the people’s vital interests, extensive consultations, including the holding of public hearings and the publishing of draft legislative texts in full, are held to solicit views and comments from all groups in society.
11. China is a party to 25 international human rights instruments (see annex 3), including the six core human rights conventions: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). China has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The relevant departments are carrying out necessary
legislative, judiciary and administrative reforms to create the conditions for the early ratification of ICCPR. As of August 2008, China had submitted 6 periodic reports under CERD covering 13 reporting periods, 4 reports under CEDAW covering 6 reporting periods, 4 reports under CAT covering 5 reporting periods, 2 reports under CRC and its initial report under ICESCR.
12. The Chinese Government takes the observations and recommendations of the treaty bodies seriously and considers them thoroughly; it accepts and implements them in the light of China’s national realities.
C. Institutional safeguards for human rights 1. China’s basic political infrastructure
13. The system of people’s congresses is China’s fundamental political system. The Chinese people exercise their powers through the National People’s Congress and local people’s congresses, enacting laws and regulations and deciding on matters of major national and local significance.
Deputies to people’s congresses are elected by the people through democratic elections. Every citizen who has reached the age of 18 has the right to vote and stand for election. Elections are competitive, with direct elections at the county and township levels. For several years the voter participation rate1 throughout the country has been above 90 per cent.
14. China’s political party system is one of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In addition to the Communist Party, there are eight other political parties in China; these democratic parties participate, through
cooperation with the CPC, the ruling party, in the administration of State affairs and the formulation and implementation of State laws and regulations.
15. China adheres to the principle that all ethnic groups are equal and implements a system of regional ethnic autonomy in areas with high concentrations of ethnic minorities. Organs of self-government are established in these autonomous areas to ensure the exercise of autonomous rights, including the right to enact legislation and the right of ethnic groups to independently administer their affairs in such areas as the economy, education, science, culture and health.
2. The judicial system
16. The people’s courts are the State judicial organs. The people’s procuratorates are the State organs for legal supervision and have the powers to authorize arrests, initiate public prosecutions and lodge protests in accordance with the law, and to oversee the proceedings of people’s courts,
the investigatory activities of public and State security organs and law enforcement in prisons. The people’s courts and procuratorates exercise their judicial and procuratorial authority independently, free from any interference by any administrative organ, organization or individual.
3. Human rights education
17. Since 1986, China has implemented four five-year programmes for the dissemination of general knowledge of the law with a view to keeping citizens fully informed of their rights and obligations. The fifth such programme (2006-2010), which is currently under way, emphasizes education and training for public servants in the areas of human rights and the rule of law. Since the early l990s, China has gradually incorporated instruction in the legal system and human rights in school curricula. Most primary and secondary schools now offer classes on the Chinese legal system. Law schools at 30 universities have introduced courses on human rights law, while more than 20 institutions of higher learning and research institutes have established human rights research centres.
4. Participation of non-governmental organizations, academic institutions and the information media in the protection of human rights
18. The Chinese Government encourages and supports the engagement of civil society in activities for the promotion and protection of human rights. At the end of 2007, there were 387,000 registered NGOs in China. They are active in such fields as poverty alleviation, health, education, environmental protection and the safeguarding of citizens’ rights, and they are an influential force in China’s political, economic, cultural and social life. Academic institutions actively conduct human rights research and disseminate information on human rights, and
participate in the formulation of important human rights legislation. The information media play a special disseminating and oversight role in the promotion and protection of human rights by publishing, writing, holding lectures and covering news stories of major public concern.
III. POLICIES AND PRACTICES FOR THE PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
A. Economic, social and cultural rights
1. The right to subsistence and the right to development
19. The Chinese Government attaches top priority to realizing the people’s right to subsistence and right to development. Since 1953, the Chinese Government has formulated and implemented 11 five-year national economic and social development plans. These plans have been essential in raising the Chinese people’s living standards and promoting social progress. With the introduction of the policy of reform and opening up in 1978, the Chinese economy has registered an average annual growth of 9.8 per cent and a tenfold real growth in per capita gross domestic product (GDP).
Living standards have achieved two historic leaps: from poverty to subsistence and from subsistence to relative prosperity.
20. Since 1986, the Chinese Government has implemented a development-oriented poverty alleviation strategy. Through economic development projects, special poverty relief projects, coordinated urban and rural development measures and contributions from all sectors of society, poverty has been reduced extensively across the country. The number of persons in rural areas living in extreme poverty has fallen from 250 million some 30 years ago to 15 million. China is the
first country in the world to meet the poverty reduction target set in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (see annex 4, table 1, for information on poverty alleviation in China during the period 1986-2007).
21. With a mere 9 per cent of the world’s arable land, China has managed to provide adequate food for a population that accounts for 21 per cent of the world’s total population. Overall living standards have improved markedly, and the pattern of consumption has shifted from one that reflects efforts to secure a basic living to one that reflects the pursuit of a modern life. The Engel coefficient (i.e., food expenditure as a proportion of total household spending)2 for urban and rural households has dropped from 57.5 per cent and 67.7 per cent 30 years ago to 36.3 per cent and 43.1 per cent respectively.
22. The Chinese people’s right to subsistence has generally been secured, and their living standards are constantly improving. All this has laid a solid foundation for the people’s full enjoyment of the right to development and for all-round human development.
2. The right to work
23. China has a large population and labour force. In order to create more job opportunities, the Chinese Government pursues a proactive employment policy and adheres to the guiding principles that workers choose or create their own jobs, the market regulates employment and the Government promotes employment. In recent years, the Chinese Government has introduced an enabling policy for self-employment and entrepreneurship and has encouraged businesses to employ laid-off workers. It has also improved the system of employment assistance and vocational training to help the large number of workers who lost their jobs as a result of economic restructuring. By the end of 2007, some 769 million people were employed and the urban registered unemployment rate was 4 per cent. China is now a world leader in terms of the ratio of employed persons to total population.
24. In 2007, China promulgated a number of important labour laws, including the Labour Contract Law, the Employment Promotion Law and the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labour Disputes, which offer strengthened legal guarantees for the rights and interests of workers.
A system of labour standards covering working hours, rest, leave, remuneration, prohibition of child labour, and vocational safety and health is taking shape. A system of labour contracts and collective contracts has been established, and the tripartite mechanism for coordinating labour relations among the Government, trade unions and businesses has been improved. A minimum wage system has been introduced throughout the country. By the end of 2007, China had nearly 3,200 labour dispute arbitration committees at the county level and above.
25. To safeguard workers’ rights and protect citizens’ equal right to work, China has endeavoured to eliminate discrimination in employment, with special attention paid to ensuring employment opportunities and equal treatment for women. Employment assistance to persons with disabilities and rural migrant workers has been increased.
26. With the promulgation of the Work Safety Law and the Mine Safety Law, China has set up a four-tier safety monitoring and control system at the national, provincial, city and county levels and has established a top-down management system to monitor safety in coal mines as well as an emergency rescue and assistance system. In recent years, the Chinese Government has adopted a number of measures to improve work safety, such as establishing a safety clearance mechanism, increasing enterprise accountability for work safety, eliminating hidden safety threats, strengthening accident investigations and sanctions, and determining responsibility in the case of accidents.
27. Trade unions have a total of 209,000,000 members, of whom 66,746,000 are rural migrant workers in cities. Employees have the collective right to conclude labour contracts with employers covering remuneration, working hours, rest, leave, labour safety, health, and insurance benefits.
3. Social security
28. The Chinese Government has consistently endeavoured to establish a sound social security system that is commensurate with the country’s level of economic development, and the
foundations of a social security system comprising social insurance, social relief and social welfare have begun to take shape. Over the past five years, China’s accumulated budgeted expenditure for social security reached 1.95 trillion yuan, or 1.41 times the amount spent over the previous five-year period.
29. A system of social insurance including urban old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, industrial accident insurance, maternity insurance, urban workers’ medical insurance and urban residents’ basic medical insurance has been established and is developing rapidly. A new type of cooperative health-care system in rural areas now covers the entire countryside and has 815 million participants. The Chinese Government is exploring ways to set up an old-age insurance scheme in rural areas (see annex 4, table 2, for information on the participation of urban residents in the social insurance scheme from 2000 to 2007).
30. The Chinese Government has established a number of social relief and assistance systems or schemes, including the urban and rural subsistence allowance scheme, the rural “five guarantees”
system (guarantees of food, clothing, medical care, shelter and burial expenses for eligible individuals in rural areas), the urban and rural medical care assistance scheme, the disaster
emergency relief system and the system of assistance to urban vagrants. As of June 2008, the urban subsistence allowance scheme covered 22,677,000 urban residents while the rural subsistence allowance scheme covered 37,499,000 rural poor. At the end of 2007, China had a total of
43,607 welfare institutions taking in a total of 1,999,500 elderly persons, persons with disabilities and orphans.
4. The right to housing
31. The Chinese Government is accelerating housing development in response to the themes of
“Adequate shelter for all” and “Sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world”. Recent years have witnessed marked improvement in housing conditions and the housing environment in both urban and rural areas. Twelve Chinese cities have won the UN-HABITAT Award.
32. The Chinese Government has introduced a low-rent housing system to meet the housing needs of low-income urban households through public finance. Eligible households may either live in low-rent housing provided by the Government or receive a subsidy from the Government to find their own housing. This system has helped to improve the housing conditions of
950,000 low-income families. The Chinese Government is also working to improve and
standardize its “Affordable Home Ownership Scheme”, a programme aimed at helping low- and medium-income households buy low-cost but reasonably comfortable housing. Such lost-cost
standardize its “Affordable Home Ownership Scheme”, a programme aimed at helping low- and medium-income households buy low-cost but reasonably comfortable housing. Such lost-cost