China's human rights progress while achieving moderate prosperity

China issued a white paper Thursday unveiling how its route to all-round moderate prosperity coincided with comprehensive progress in human rights, one month after it declaredrealizing the goal of building Xiaokang, a moderately prosperous society in all respects.

Calling poverty the biggest obstacle to human rights, the white paper, titled "Moderate Prosperity in All Respects: Another Milestone Achieved in China's Human Rights," said that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have focused on rural poverty, advanced development-driven poverty alleviation and achieved a series of important breakthroughs, and have thus secured the right to an adequate standard of living for all the people.

By the end of 2020, China had lifted all 98.99 million rural residents living below the current poverty line out of poverty.

China's realization of moderate prosperity serves as a solid foundation for human rights, according to the white paper.

Moderate prosperity in China is evident in all respects: a buoyant economy, political democracy, a flourishing culture, social equity, and healthy ecosystems; balanced development between urban and rural areas to the benefit of all the people; and high respect for and comprehensive protection of human rights, the document said.

China has put life first in fighting COVID-19 and made consistent efforts in ensuring equitable and accessible health services, upgrading the quality of people's life, maximizing employment, enhancing public cultural services, guaranteeing the right to education, expanding social security to cover all citizens and improving the eco-environment, said the white paper.

The white paper hailed the realization of moderate prosperity in China, a country with a population about one-fifth of the world's total, as a milestone in the history of global human rights.