BEIJING — Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has stressed unswerving adherence to China's path of human rights development.

Xi made the remarks while presiding over a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on Feb 25.

Xi called for more efforts to pay attention to, respect and safeguard human rights and better advance the development of China's human rights cause as the country has embarked on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist China.

To respect and protect human rights is a persistent pursuit of the CPC, Xi stressed.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC has continued to make the respect for and protection of human rights an important agenda of national governance, and has prompted historic achievements in China's human rights cause, Xi said.

The problem of absolute poverty has been solved, whole-process people's democracy further developed, social equity and justice firmly safeguarded, and the world's largest education, social security and healthcare systems established, Xi said, highlighting some of the progress in human rights development.

China has effectively combated COVID-19 to protect the health and safety of the people to the greatest extent possible. China maintains that all ethnic groups are equal, respects people's religious beliefs, and safeguards the lawful rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups, Xi said.

China has ensured long-term social stability. It is the only major country in the world that has consecutively formulated and enforced four national human rights action plans. It also actively participates in global governance on human rights, Xi added.

In the practice of advancing the cause of human rights, China has blazed a path of human rights development that is consistent with the trend of the times and suits the nation's conditions, Xi stressed.

Xi noted six main features of China's development of human rights: upholding the Party's leadership, respecting the people's principal position, proceeding from national realities, upholding the rights to subsistence and development as the primary and basic human rights, safeguarding human rights in accordance with the law, and participating in global governance on human rights.

The features are also experience that should be further upheld and developed in the context of new practices, Xi said.

Xi urged further efforts to fulfill the people's expectation for high-quality and better lives, and meet their growing needs to exercise lawful rights in various aspects.

The legal protection for human rights should be strengthened to fully cover the whole process of legislation, law enforcement, administration of justice, and observance of the law, Xi stressed, adding that the miscarriage of justice, which hurts people's sentiments and interests, must be completely eradicated.

Xi urged extensive publicity and dissemination of human rights knowledge, so as to create a positive environment for respecting and protecting human rights.

Xi stressed actively promoting global governance on human rights, upholding the common values of humanity, and advancing the global governance on human rights in a fairer, more equitable, rational and inclusive direction.

Human rights cannot be detached from the context of different social, political conditions as well as history and cultural traditions in different countries, Xi said.

Whether human rights are upheld in a country cannot be judged by the criteria from others, Xi said, adding that the practices of applying double standards or using human rights issues as political tools to interfere in others' internal affairs must be opposed.