Since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress was held in 2012, President Xi Jinping has frequently mentioned human rights, expounding on a series of concepts on their development and depicting bright prospects for China’s human rights cause. All these have displayed President Xi’s deep understanding of how to better respect and protect human rights as well as the fixed determination of the CPC and the Chinese Government to promote them.

President Xi’s vision for human rights has greatly enriched China’s related theory, providing important guidance on the nation’s practices in human rights protection.

The CPC and the Chinese Government have always put the people’s rights to subsistence and development first, persistently adapting the universality of human rights to China’s national conditions and sparing no efforts to push forward their social and economic development plus legal protection so that the people can enjoy better welfare and have a stronger sense of gain, happiness and security. China’s success in pioneering human rights in a socialist country is unique and tangible. Recent years, in particular, have seen China make great strides forward in poverty alleviation, and create a moderately prosperous society.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The past century has recorded the CPC’s fights for the people’s liberation, their various rights and well-rounded individual progress. In upholding a people-centered evolution, China is working hard to realize the dream of the nation’s great rejuvenation, which is expected to better safeguard people’s human rights and growth.

Under the guidance of President Xi’s theory on human rights, the Chinese Government practices the notion of “putting people and their lives first” in its battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The public’s health is thus well protected courtesy of the swift and targeted strategies to contain the virus, striking a stark contrast to the high mortality rates and an overall deteriorating pandemic outlook in the West.

President Xi’s ideas on human rights have provided a new line of thought for the world’s human rights cause, pushing it towards a fairer and more balanced, comprehensive and progressive direction.

In his congratulatory letter to the 2021 South-South Human Rights Forum (SSHRF), while explaining China’s related concept that puts the people and their interests front and center and promotes the overarching development of each individual, President Xi also expressed China’s willingness to work with all developing countries to carry forward the common values of humanity, practice true multilateralism and contribute wisdom and strength to the sound development of the international human rights cause.

President Xi further pointed out in his letter to the SSHRF that, human rights symbolize the progress of human civilization. Putting the population first and taking its longing for a better life as the goal is the responsibility of all countries. He stressed that practices of human rights vary, and countries worldwide can choose the path that best suits their own national conditions.

China’s development is reflected not only in terms of economic growth, but also in the various aspects of human rights advancement, such as employment, education, healthcare, social security, as well as social justice, equity, democracy and the rule of law.

A report released by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies on December 7 reveals that as for the “common values of all mankind” featuring peace, development, equity, justice, democracy and freedom, as put forward by China, survey participants from 23 countries expressed a high degree of recognition.

At a time when certain developed countries are wielding the baton of human rights to bully others, it’s time for developing countries to pay more attention to Xi’s newfangled vision for human rights and seek stronger cooperation in the promotion of global human rights governance.