In Uganda, an East African country known for its favorable climate and abundant rainfall, agricultural modernization is changing lives.

Since the China-FAO-Uganda South-South Cooperation project launched in 2012, Chinese experts have helped local farmers raise productivity through hybrid rice, improved millet varieties and other technologies. Hybrid rice yields are now two to three times higher than traditional varieties. Some 70,000 farmers have benefited from the project. 

Uganda's experience reflects a broader belief that development is key to realizing human rights.

On Thursday, the 2026 Forum on Global Human Rights Governance opened in Beijing, bringing together more than 400 Chinese and international participants to discuss ways to advance human rights through development and cooperation.

Participants stressed that the right to development is a cornerstone of the global human rights system. Without the material conditions needed to exercise human rights, they cannot be fully realized.

Promoting human rights through development

Chinese President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the protection of human rights. In a congratulatory letter to the same forum in 2023, he advocated the rights-through-development approach. Central to President Xi's human rights philosophy is that "the happiness of the people is the greatest human right" and that "the rights to subsistence and development are the primary basic human rights." 

Wang Yiwei, vice president of the Academy of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era at Renmin University of China, told CGTN that this approach places people's real-life well-being at the center of human rights protection. Rather than focusing solely on abstract rights, it emphasizes whether people have access to food, healthcare, education and opportunities to improve their lives.

As the world's largest developing country, China has long championed the inclusion of the right to development as a key component of the international human rights agenda, and worked relentlessly to promote this concept globally.

In 2017, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a China-proposed resolution affirming the belief that "development advances human rights," highlighting the importance of poverty reduction and improved living standards.

In 2025, the same resolution was adopted by consensus in the UN for the first time, reflecting growing support for the view that development and human rights are mutually reinforcing.

Turning principles into action

China has not only advocated the right to development, but has also translated the concept into practical cooperation.

The country has integrated development cooperation into its human rights approach. Under the Belt and Road Initiative, more than 420,000 jobs have been created in participating countries over the past decade, while nearly 40 million people have been lifted out of poverty. Meanwhile, Chinese medical teams have provided healthcare services to more than 300 million people in 77 countries and regions, and development assistance projects have supported food security and disease prevention efforts across Africa and other developing regions.

China's emphasis on development rights is rooted in its own experience.

Over the past several decades, the country has lifted nearly 800 million people out of absolute poverty, contributing more than 70% of global poverty reduction. Basic medical insurance now covers more than 1.3 billion people, while average life expectancy has risen from 35 years in the 1940s to 79.25 years today.

China's human rights vision, together with its remarkable implementation, has not only fundamentally transformed the lives of 1.4 billion Chinese people, but also provides an excellent example for the reform and development of international human rights, Zhang Weiwei, dean of the China Institute at Fudan University, said at the forum in Beijing.

"I believe it will continue to exert profound global influence," Zhang added.