BEIJING, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- China calls on all parties to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, engage in constructive dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights and work together for the sound development of the international human rights cause, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Mao Ning made the remarks at a daily press briefing, in response to a query about China's work in the field of human rights protection and the criticism of some Western countries on China's human rights situation.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was adopted 76 years ago, is of major significance in the history of human civilization and has a profound influence on the world's human rights cause, Mao said.

"China always attaches high importance to respecting and protecting human rights and puts the people front and center," Mao said, adding that China has found a path toward better human rights that reflects the trend of the times and fits its national realities and made historic progress in its human rights cause.

Mao said that China has won the largest battle against poverty in human history as scheduled, lifting nearly 100 million impoverished rural residents out of poverty in the past decade and hitting the targets of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule.

China keeps improving the whole-process people's democracy. There are over 2.7 million deputies at various levels of people's congresses, including around 3,000 deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC), which ensures that the people are the masters of their own country, Mao said.

China has set up the world's largest education system, social security system and medical care system and the Chinese people's average life expectancy has increased to 78.6 years. China protects human rights in accordance with the law, and the 305 laws currently in effect in China provide all-round legal safeguards for its human rights cause, Mao added.

Mao said that China has put up a series of initiatives and propositions at the Human Rights Council under the themes including the promotion of human rights through cooperation and development, the economic, social and cultural rights and the rights and interests of specific groups, which makes positive contributions to the sound development of global human rights governance.

Mao added that the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China put forward over 300 reform measures covering such fields as economy, politics, culture, social life and ecological protection, which will effectively improve people's well-being, promote social equity and justice and continue to better safeguard human rights.

"Some countries have used human rights as a weapon to serve their political agenda, posing severe challenges to global human rights governance," Mao said, adding that China hopes that certain countries will discard megaphone diplomacy and stop interfering in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of so-called human rights issues. Enditem

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