Countries should intensify cooperation and stick to their own reality in safeguarding their people's human rights, including the rights to subsistence and development, officials and experts said at a human rights forum that opened on Wednesday in Beijing.

The two-day Forum on Global Human Rights Governance is themed "Equality, Cooperation and Development: The 30th Anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and Global Human Rights Governance." It is jointly hosted by the Information Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China International Development Cooperation Agency.

China is a formulator and advocate of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, as well as a firm defender and practitioner of it, said Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, at the forum.

The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted in 1993 by the 171 states attending the World Conference on Human Rights and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly later that year.

China insists on putting people first, integrating the universal principles of human rights with China's reality, and taking subsistence and development as primary basic human rights, he said.

Li said that China has coordinated and improved its overall economic, political, social and cultural development to promote all-around social progress, and has explored a path of human rights development that conforms to the trend of society and suits China's national conditions.

International participants at the forum hailed China's efforts in protecting human rights.

China has spared no effort to promote and protect human rights and has made remarkable achievements in this process, said Akmal Saidov, first deputy speaker of the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan's parliament and director of the National Human Rights Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Moreover, China is playing an increasingly important and positive role on the international community in the human rights cause, he said, adding that different countries have different historical and social backgrounds, but share a common topic in human rights.

It is necessary to be fully aware of the unique circumstances of each country and the unique needs of its people, in order to explore the best way to protect human rights, he said.

Aslan Abashidze, a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, said that the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action holds that all human rights are indivisible, and all aspects of human rights should be properly ensured.

China has accounted for 70 percent of global poverty reduction and eradicated extreme poverty 10 years ahead of the UN target date, which is not only a major achievement for China but also a major victory for mankind, he said.

Over the more than four decades of reform and opening-up, China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty and brought over 400 million people into the middle-income group, noted Zhang Weiwei, director of the China Institute of Fudan University.

The achievements have far-reaching and enlightening implications for global human rights governance, he said, adding that in its modernization drive, China continues to formulate policies based on its own people's feelings, national conditions and cultural traditions.

China's philosophy that "people's livelihoods are paramount" has corrected a long-standing deviation of the Western philosophy of human rights governance, which only prioritizes the political rights of citizens, while rights regarding people's livelihoods and development are ignored, he said.

Soundbites

The foundation of human rights lies in people, and the most important human right is for people to live a happy life. Whether people's interests are safeguarded and their sense of gain, happiness and security is enhanced is an important criterion for testing countries' human rights status. There is no one-size-fits-all model of human rights in the world. Countries differ in social and political conditions, history and cultural traditions and they must, and can only, explore their own path of human rights development in light of their historical realities and people's needs.

Ma Zhaoxu, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs

More than 150 of the 193 members of the United Nations member countries are developing countries, accounting for 85 percent of the population. The right to development is of paramount importance to these people and countries. The right to subsistence and development are the most basic human rights, which is also the consensus of a vast number of developing countries. Over the past decade, China has adhered to whole-process people's democracy, committed to high-quality development and opening-up, promoted common prosperity, and promoted the rejuvenation of China through Chinese modernization. China's achievements have ensured the right to subsistence and development of 1.4 billion people in the world.

Luo Zhaohui, chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency

CPC's (Communist Party of China) call is to expand the orderly political participation of the people, to strengthen the protection of human rights and the rule of law, and to ensure that the people enjoy extensive rights and freedoms in accordance with the law. Thus, enhancing whole-process people's democracy enhances human rights. I have been visiting over 100 cities in China for research and interviews, books and essays, television and documentaries. Yet, as much as I thought I knew China, I did not appreciate all that is required for poverty alleviation until I visited poor regions, especially remote mountain villages and spoke with poor villagers.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation

I am convinced the cause for a community for a shared future for mankind is the pathway to peace as well as true human rights in the proper sense of development and the elimination of global poverty. I see the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) emerging out of this very long and very profound history of China. Western political leaders, presently lack any insight into this very long and great history. They operate on the idea of the 'law of the jungle'. They consider brute power to be the solution to problems and they cannot trust anyone. This certainly lacks any substance for protecting or defending human rights.

Stephen Brawer, chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden