China has done a lot of work in human right protection, but as the promotion and protection of human rights is an arduous long-term task, such efforts will continue in future, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday.

"We are keenly aware that as a developing country, China still has a long way to go to promote and protect human rights," Li Baodong, Chinese ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva, told a regular session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Chinese government will continue to uphold the spirit and goals advocated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and will continue to work with all other countries in a common effort to realize the lofty goal of promoting and protecting human rights, he said.

According to Li, China is now a country enjoying political stability, economic prosperity and social progress, which should be attributed to the common efforts of the government and the people.

China is the only country in the world that has reached ahead of schedule the UN Millennium Development Goals of reducing by half the population living in poverty by 2015.

At present, acting on the constitutional principle that "state should respect and safeguard human rights," the Chinese government is conscientiously following a human-centered, fully-coordinated, sustainable and scientific concept of development.

China is also endeavoring to build a harmonious society characterized by "democracy and rule of law, equity and justice".

"Through promoting democracy and the rule of law, we have worked to promote and protect the civil and political rights of our citizens," Li said.

"All in all, the Chinese people are enjoying an ever-increasing level of human rights protection," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2008)