China releases annual report to highlight its human rights efforts

China recently published the Annual Report on Human Rights report (2024), the 14th edition since it was first published in 2011 by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, the largest national academic organization dedicated to human rights research in China.

Based on extensive research, the report uses comprehensive data and various cases to highlight the latest progress in China's human rights efforts in 2023.

The report comprises 25 sections, including a general report, thematic reports, and case study reports. The general report outlines the overall advancements in China's human rights development in 2023, focusing on key areas such as improving people's livelihoods, enhancing the protection of economic, social, and cultural rights and strengthening the rule of law to safeguard civil and political rights.

Thematic reports expand on these topics, analyzing areas such as economic, social, and cultural rights; civil and political rights; specific groups' rights protection; and international human rights cooperation. Notable subjects include labor rights protection for workers in emerging industries, improving residents' happiness through urban renewal initiatives, ensuring citizens' psychological health rights, and safeguarding rural citizens' democratic participation in village development.

Four of the thematic reports specifically addressed the impact of digital technology on human rights, focusing on new measures to combat cyberbullying, the protection of survival and development rights in the digital economy, the role of digital governance in safeguarding citizens' rights, and the protection of minors in cyberspace.

For the first time, the report also reviews the progress in establishing national human rights education and training bases, as well as the development of human rights studies and academic systems in the new era.

The case study reports cover topics such as safeguarding the rights of fishermen affected by the "ten-year fishing ban" on the Yangtze River, lessons from Yunnan's ecological conservation and environmental rights protection efforts, the creation of the first mediation and consultation mechanism in the mining and mineral value chain, and the formulation and implementation of a guideline for Chinese textile and apparel enterprises in performing their social and environmental responsibilities.