1、1New Developments in Chinas Human RightsIN April 2009 the Chinese govern- ment published the National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2009-2010), the first national plan withhuman rights as its theme, promoting thisaspect of social and legal development. Bythe end of 2010, all measures stipulated
2、 inthe Action Plan had been put into practice,with all the goals achieved and tasks ful-filled in the time allotted. During the last two years, Chinas GDPregistered an average annual growth of9.77 percent. In 2010 the disposable in-come of Chinas urban residents increasedby 11.3 percent over the pre
3、vious year, areal increase of 7.8 percent after adjustingfor inflation; while the net income of ruralresidents increased by 14.9 percent, a realincrease of 10.9 percent after adjusting forinflation. In 2009 and 2010 an additional 22.7million urban workers found employmentin this period. By the end o
4、f 2010, the of-ficial unemployment rate was 4.1 percent,0.2 percentage points lower than theprevious year, and this was the best show-ing since the 2008 financial crisis. Thepoverty-stricken of rural 2areas decreasedto 26.88 million, a drop of 13.19 millionpeople from 2008. The production andliving
5、conditions in the countryside saw aremarkable improvement. The social security system coveringurban and rural areas has been improved.By the end of 2010, the population coveredby basic old-age insurance increased by38 million more people than registeredtwo years ago, to 250 million. By the endof 201
6、0, the basic medical insurance forurban workers and basic medical insur-ance for urban residents covered 430 mil-lion people while the new rural coopera-rive medical insurance covered over 836million; the total number of participantsreached 1.26 billion, accounting for over90 percent of the national
7、 population. Amedical insurance network covering allcitizens has taken shape. The right to an education has beenbolstered. In 2010, the state exempted130 million rural students in compulsoryeducation from paying tuition and miscel-laneous fees, and supplied them with freetextbooks, and about 12.24 m
8、illion board-ers from poor rural families have beensubsidized. By the end of 2010, 100 per-cent of the national population had accessto nine years of compulsory education.The net enrollment rate of school-age chil-dren in elementary schools reached 99.7percent, and the 3gross enrollment rate injunio
9、r high schools reached 100 percent.The illiteracy rate among the populationabove 15 years of age dropped to 4.08percent. In the three years reconstruction sincethe devastating Wenchuan Earthquake,the basic living conditions of earthquakevictims and the development level of thequake-hit areas have re
10、ached or surpassedpre-disaster levels. Now housing and em-ployment for every fancily are guaranteed.Reconstruction in the areas hit by theYushu Earthquake and Zhouqu mud-rockflow is advancing smoothly, and the basic human rights of residents in these areasare effectively guaranteed. Civil and politi
11、cal rights have moreeffective guarantees. In March 2010 theNational Peoples Congress revised theElection Law to stipulate that deputies tothe peoples congresses should be electedin the same proportion as populationsof urban and rural areas. The revisionsbroadened the representation of thepeoples con
12、gresses, and improved theregulations concerning election organsand procedures, better demonstratingequality among all people, regions andethnic groups. During these two years, thestate promulgated Amendment VIII tothe Criminal Law, the Social Security Law,and the Tort Law, and revised the Labor,Educ
13、ation and Agricultural laws, and theLaw on Maternal 4and Infant Health Care.Amendment VIII to the Criminal Lawabolished the death penalty for 13 types ofeconomic and non-violent crimes, whichaccounted for nearly one fifth of the to-tal number of death penalty crimes. Theamended Criminal Law restrict
14、s the ap-plication of the death penalty to people 75years old and above. By the end of 2010,China had enacted 236 laws, 69o admin-istrative regulations, and 8,6oo local stat-utes. A socialist legal system with Chinesecharacteristics has taken shape. All aspectsof the nation are guided by law, such a
15、sthe eeonoiny, politics, culture, social life,and human rights. Over the past two years, the state hasappropriated RMB 2.779 billion as a devel-opment fund for ethnic minorities. Ethnicminorities traditions of religious beliefsand their heritage of religious culture arefurther protected. A bilingual
16、 teachingmode has taken shape, adapting to thelanguage environment and educationalconditions of each ethnic group. The level of womens participation inthe management of state and social affairshas been enhanced. The state has workedout and improved a set of laws and regu-lations concerning womens ri
17、ghts andinterests, such as the Social Security Law,Regulations Concerning the Labor Pro-tection of 5Female Staff and Workers. TheNational Peoples Congress has conductedinspections on the enforcement of the Lawon the Protection of Rights and Interestsof Women, and trade unions at variouslevels provid
18、e Iegal assistance to femalestaff and workers. Childrens legitimate rights and inter-ests have been safeguarded. By the endof 2010, of all the countrys provinces,autonomous regions, and municipalitiesdirectly under the central government, 18had revised the relevant local regulationsin support of the
19、 Law on the Protectionof Minors, and five had made local regu-lations to prevent juvenile delinquency.Childrens rights to education and healthhave been effectively guaranteed. Welfareinstitutions for children have been estab-lished in cities at and above the prefecturelevel all over the country, for
20、ming a servicenetwork to ensure the welfare of children. The state revised the Law on the Pro- tection of Rights and Interests of the Aged,and worked out national standards includ-ing Safety Management Standards forSocial Welfare Institutions. It also carriesout inspections all over the nation on im
21、-plementation of these standards. In 2011,the pension for retirees from enterpriseswas increased by RMB 140 6per month onthe basis of continuous increases between2005 and 2009. China has built a numberof old-age care institutions of differenttypes. The building of the social security sys-tems for pe
22、ople with disabilities has beenfurther strengthened. The NPC StandingCommittee has placed a Mental HealthLaw on its upcoming lawmaking agenda.In 2010 a total of 3,592 legal aid agenciesthroughout the country provided legal ser-vices (e.g. defending cases in court or serv-ing as procurators) to over
23、54,000 peoplewith disabilities. At present, there are nearly 3o humanrights research centers in China, set up bycolleges and research institutes. Dozensof colleges are offering courses in humanrights law and human rights education.Nankai University, Shandong Universityand China University of Politic
24、al Scienceand Law are among the universities thathave enrolled Masters and Ph.D. candi-dates in human rights. The Ministry ofEducation has also established national-level human rights education and trainingbases at Nankai University, China Uni-versity of Political Science and Law, andGuangzhou Unive
25、rsity. Over the past two years, China has con-scientiously fulfilled its obligations underthe international human rights 7conven-tions to which it is a signatory, and com-pleted its second report on implementingthe International Covenant on Economic,Social and Cultural Rights, its third andfourth co
26、mbined report on implementingthe Convention on the Rights of the Child(including its latest report on implement-ing the Optional Protocol on the Sale ofChildren, Child Prostitution and ChildPornography), the first report on imple-menting the Optional Protocol on the In-volvement of Children in Armed
27、 Conflictand its first report on implementing theConvention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities. All have been submitted tothe United Nations. The Chinese government sent a delega-tion to a meeting held by the UN Commit-tee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimi-nation to discuss Chinas 10th, 1
28、1th,12thand 13th combined report on its imple-mentation of the International Conventionon the Elimination of All Forms of RacialI)iscrimination, and held a constructivedialogue with the committee. On August28, the committee passed and publishedits conclusions, which confirmed Chinasmeasures and achi
29、evements in develop-ing the economy in the areas inhabitedby ethnic minorities, supporting less-populated ethnic groups and protectingethnic-minority cultures. The Chinesegovernment took the committees conclu-sions very 8seriously, and presented its own feedback materials and suggestions for theconc
30、luding report to the committee in Au-grist 2010. The Chinese government has made anearnest response to the requirements ofthe UN Convention Against Corruption(UNCAC), and cooperates fully in inter-national actions in this field. Since 2oo9it has sent delegations to attend the ThirdConference of the
31、States Parties (CoSP)of the UNCAC, as well as all meetings andexchanges held as part of a review of theimplementation of the Convention, assetrecovery operations, and preventive mea-sures taken under the framework of theConvention. Exchanges and cooperation efforts inthe field of international human
32、 rightshave been vigorous. China has fulfilledthe commitments set out in the ActionPlan, and instigated new initiatives for thehealthy development of international hu-man rights endeavors. China has hosted bilateral dialoguesand exchanges on human rights with vari-ous countries and regional organiza
33、tions,on the basis of equality and mutual re-spect. Consultations on human rights havebeen held with the EU, the U.S., the UK,the Netherlands, Germany and Australia,and exchanges related to human rightstake place within the framework of theAsia-Pacific 9Region and Sub-region. Chinas NG0s also promot
34、e coopera-tion and exchanges in the field of hu-man rights. During the past two yearsthe China Society for Human RightsStudies twice organized the Beijing Hu-man Rights Forum, communicatingwith officials and experts from over 40countries and regions and concernedinternational organizations. The National Human Rights ActionPlan (2012-2015) will work out new tar-gets and concrete measures to realizethem, further promoting human rights byway of expanding democracy, strength-ening the legal system and improvingpeoples livelihoods.
