Human Rights Action Plan of China (2021-2025)（II）

A family takes photos against a backdrop of blooming sunflowers at the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing, on July 4, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

Editor's Note: The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China on Thursday released the country's fourth human rights action plan "Human Rights Action Plan of China （2021-2025）." Full text below:

Contents

5. Right to Health

The Healthy China initiative will be implemented in full to provide a complete range of health services to the people throughout their lifespan. The ability to combat major epidemics and respond to public health emergencies will be considerably reinforced. The Chinese people will be healthier both physically and mentally, and enjoy better and more equal healthcare.

－Building a strong public health system. Following the principle of putting people and lives first no matter the cost, China will continue to take effective measures to contain the Covid-19 spread. China's disease prevention and control system will be reformed, with better monitoring, early warning, risk assessment, epidemiological investigation, testing, and emergency response. Measures will be enacted to improve public health colleges and cultivate more professionals. The national immunization program will be expanded to strengthen the prevention and control of major infectious diseases and the prevention, early screening and intervention of chronic diseases. The healthcare system for mental health will be improved. Twenty national bases for the prevention, control and treatment of major infectious diseases and 20 national bases for emergency rescue will be renovated and upgraded. About 15 regional healthcare centers will be built by making use of the resources of existing centers for disease control and prevention.

－Improving the healthcare system. Services provided by town, township and community healthcare centers will be raised to national standards by improving public hospitals and medical service networks for urban and rural areas. Provincial and city hospitals will be encouraged to share quality medical resources with their county-level peers. More progress will be made in expanding the tiered diagnosis and treatment model and partnerships between medical institutions operating at different levels. Private healthcare providers and experienced practicing physicians will be encouraged to set up and run clinics.

－Strengthening the prevention and control of chronic and endemic diseases. National Demonstration Areas for Comprehensive Prevention and Control of Chronic Diseases will be expanded to cover 20 percent of China's counties and county-level districts. The premature mortality rate resulting from major chronic diseases will be reduced by 20 percent compared to 2015. Efforts will continue to control and eliminate endemic diseases and schistosomiasis （bilharzia）。

－Increasing the scale and quality of medical training. The number of pediatricians and general practitioners will be increased to address the current shortfall, and the number of registered nurses per 1,000 people will be increased to 3.8. Training programs will be carried out to increase the number of general practitioners per 10,000 people, which will be raised to 3.93.

－Upgrading the universal medical insurance system. The state will improve the general support mechanism for covering outpatient medical bills under basic medical insurance, and put in place a better system of medical insurance and assistance for major diseases. Qualified online medical services will be covered by medical insurance with due procedures, and real-time settlement of medical expenses for treatment incurred outside the province where the patient resides will be implemented. An insurance system for long-term care will be established.

－Improving medical services for mental health. A society-wide service system for mental health will be improved to alleviate academic, professional, emotional and life pressure, as well as other social pressure, and provide post-traumatic care and better diagnosis reporting and follow-up management for people with severe mental disorders. The target for the management of patients with severe mental disorders will be 90 percent.

－Improving teenagers' health and physique. Teenagers should be encouraged to follow a healthy lifestyle, taking care of their eyes, following a reasonable diet, and taking proper exercise. At least 90 percent of teenagers should reach the physical fitness standard, and the rate of myopia will not exceed 65 percent in junior high schools and 75 percent in senior high schools.

－Ensuring food and drug safety. Risk monitoring on food and drug safety, spot checks, supervision and law enforcement will all be strengthened, timely reporting and response will be accelerated, mechanisms will be put in place to manage drugs and vaccines throughout their life cycles, and the electronic traceability system for drugs will be improved. Illegal and criminal acts in the field of food and drugs will be severely punished in accordance with the law, and a punitive compensation system in public-interest civil litigation concerning food and drug safety will be established.

－Promoting traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. Equal importance will be attached to TCM and Western medicine with a more vigorous effort to promote TCM so that the two can complement each other. About 30 national centers for TCM practice and innovation will be built, forming a number of unique and leading disciplines.

－Promoting intelligent medical service. Efforts will be made to improve electronic health archives and databases such as medical records and e-prescriptions, and speed up data sharing among medical institutions. Application of telemedicine will be promoted, including computer-aided detection in medical imaging and computer-aided clinical diagnosis. Big data will also be used to better supervise medical institutions and medical services.

－Carrying out a nationwide fitness campaign. In order to improve the public service system for fitness and physical activity, efforts will be made to build public sports fields and facilities, open school sports venues to the public, build more community sports facilities such as sports tracks, and build sports parks in line with local conditions.

6. Right to Education

Efforts will be made to increase the coverage of preschool education, the completion rate of compulsory education, and the enrollment rate of senior high schools. Equal access to education will be guaranteed, and education quality will be increased, so that the students can develop in an all-round way.

－Increasing educational investment in areas formerly classified as extremely poor. Special plans for educational investment in the central budget will continue, to build a national platform for paired-up assistance among colleges and universities in the eastern, central and western regions, and to support areas formerly classified as extremely poor in consolidating their achievements in poverty alleviation through education, so as to end generational poverty.

－Promoting full coverage of preschool education. Efforts will be made to further increase the coverage of preschool education, develop public kindergartens, and support the development of government-funded and privately-run non-profit kindergartens. The gross enrollment rate of preschool education will be raised to over 90 percent.

－Promoting high-quality and balanced development of compulsory education. Measures will be taken to promote quality, balanced compulsory education and urban-rural integration, and to speed up the growth of schools for compulsory education under uniform requirements. A responsibility system will be improved to prevent school dropouts and increase the completion rate of compulsory education. Conditions of small village schools and town/township boarding schools will also be improved.

－Increasing the coverage of senior high school education. The government will improve general senior high schools at county level and below, and encourage diversified development in general senior high schools. Support will be increased for senior high school education in less developed areas of central and western China and high-altitude regions. The gross enrollment ratio for senior secondary education will reach 92 percent or higher.

－Improving vocational education. A system with coordinated development of secondary and higher vocational education and integrated development of vocational and general education will be established. The integrated development of industry and education will be promoted, and the system of school-enterprise cooperation will be improved. Students receiving secondary vocational education will be exempted from tuition and other fees on a phased and categorized basis. The average length of schooling for new entrants to the labor force will be no less than 14 years.

－Boosting high-quality higher education. China will continue to implement programs to increase innovation in institutions of higher learning, to develop first-rate universities and academic disciplines on a categorized basis, and to raise the gross enrollment rate of higher education to 60 percent. It will further higher education in central and western regions, and encourage first-rate institutions of higher learning with first-rate disciplines to increase their enrollment from central and western China, ethnic minority areas, and rural areas.

－Ensuring the right of disadvantaged children to education. Care and protection for children of migrant workers left behind in the countryside will be strengthened, as will the education services for these children. The expansion of urban schools will be accelerated to ensure equal access to basic public education services for children of rural migrants. The policy of financial aid to students from impoverished families and the nutritional improvement plan for rural students receiving compulsory education will continue.

－Guarding against sexual assault and harassment. Kindergartens and schools are required to institute measures to prevent sexual assaults and harassment against minors, give minors proper sex education suited to their age, raise their awareness of and ability to protect themselves against sexual assault and harassment, and report any such crimes to the public security organs and educational administration departments in a timely manner. Relevant institutions and government departments should provide victim minors with protection and legal assistance.

－Curbing school bullying. Under the Law on the Protection of Minors and the Regulations on the Protection of Minors in Schools, systems will be established and educational campaigns will be carried out on a regular basis to prevent and control student bullying and protect the mental and physical health of every student.

－Preventing digital divide in online education. Information technology equipment will be provided to students from impoverished families to ensure equal access to quality online education for all students.

7. Cultural Rights

To better ensure citizens' cultural rights, public cultural services will be improved with better services to facilitate a culture of reading among the people, and more measures to pass on and protect fine traditional Chinese culture and promote emerging cultural industries.

－Improving the infrastructure for public cultural services. Efforts will be made to plan and build more public libraries, cultural centers, museums, art galleries, comprehensive cultural stations in towns, townships and sub-districts, and comprehensive cultural service centers in urban and rural communities. Public cultural infrastructure of all types and at all levels will be improved.

－Addressing shortcomings in public cultural services. In line with the requirements specified in national standards on basic public services, the state will promote cultural development at the grassroots, increase total supply, optimize the supply structure, and direct more high-quality cultural resources to rural areas, old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority areas, and border areas, so as to narrow the gap in public cultural services between urban and rural areas and between different regions. Radio and TV projects in the public interest will be carried out, and the network of rural cultural infrastructure will be improved.

－Promoting the application of digital technology in the cultural sector. The state will coordinate major projects in digitizing public cultural services, such as a national smart library system and a public culture cloud platform.

－Upgrading reading services. Community libraries will be promoted, the allocation of reading resources at the grassroots will be optimized, the reading environment in public places and reading accommodations for the dyslexic will be improved, and rural libraries will be digitalized. Efforts will be made to increase the number of people who read online and paper books, newspapers, periodicals and other publications to 83 percent of the total population.

－Establishing a system to carry forward fine traditional Chinese culture. More efforts will be made to record and conserve the knowledge and skills of the bearers of the intangible cultural heritage items on the national representative list, and to advance the research and training program for the bearers. As the project to collate Chinese classics and records proceeds, 300 Chinese classic titles will be compiled and published. The national digitization project of ancient books will also be implemented.

－Strengthening systematic protection of cultural heritage. Protection and development of key cultural and natural heritage sites, major ruins, key cultural relics sites, and historic and cultural cities, towns and villages will be strengthened, as will the support to non-state-owned museums. The Yin Ruins in Anyang and other historic sites will come under more stringent protection, and national archaeological parks will be built there as appropriate. There will be a program to build 20 archaeological specimen repositories in key areas, 30 state cultural preservation areas, and 20 state intangible cultural heritage museums. The protection list of traditional villages at all levels will be expanded.

－Building state cultural parks. Major cultural resources along the Great Wall, the Grand Canal, the Long March routes and the Yellow River will be integrated, and cultural relics and intangible heritage will be preserved and passed on in their true and complete form as important symbols of Chinese culture.

－Promoting emerging cultural industries. Innovation will be encouraged in the forms of cultural operations, and greater efforts will be made to boost creative culture. Positive and healthy cyber culture will be developed to promote robust and orderly growth of online art and literature.

II. Civil and Political Rights

China will work to expand the space for citizens' independent participation and free development, to improve systems for protecting personal rights, personal information rights, property rights and right to freedom of religious belief, to strengthen legal protection for human rights, to better protect people's rights to vote and stand for election, to be informed, to participate, to be heard, and to exercise public scrutiny, and to respect and guarantee citizens' civil and political rights.

1. Right to Life

China protects the life and dignity of citizens against illegal infringements under all conditions, normal or emergency.

－Strengthening overall capacity in guaranteeing public security. China will improve and better implement the responsibility system for workplace safety, strengthen supervision and law enforcement in this field, and effectively curb major and serious accidents. The aim is to enhance workplace safety and prevent and control biosafety risks.

－Improving guarantees for the right to life in emergencies. China will revise the Emergency Response Law, and put in place a comprehensive, procedure-based, and effective legal system for disaster management. Efforts will be made to improve the emergency aid system, the standards of natural disaster prevention projects, and the system for guaranteeing emergency supplies, so as to ensure a higher level of disaster response and a greater capacity for guaranteeing essential supplies.

－Strictly controlling and prudently applying the death penalty. China will enforce more rigorous procedures for reviewing capital sentences with standardized procedures for supervising this review, and implement a more stringent mechanism for reporting and reviewing death penalty cases. The application of laws, procedures and rules for capital sentences will be specified further to ensure the death penalty is only applicable to very few criminals guilty of very serious crimes.

2. Personal Rights

China fully respects and protects citizens' personal rights in legislation, law enforcement, and judicature, punishing crimes while protecting human rights in accordance with the law.

－Protecting the right to dignity. China will implement the principle of injuncting any （imminent） infringement of the right to dignity, and provide relevant guidance or judicial interpretations, so that citizens' right to dignity is protected in a timely and effective manner.

－Punishing soft violence, a form of crime. It is forbidden in China to infringe upon personal rights by acts of soft violence such as stalking, harassing, and gathering a crowd to create pressure.

－Strictly prohibiting illegal detention. Those who repeatedly engage in organized short-term detention of others will be convicted of and penalized for the crime of illegal detention. More efforts will be made to investigate and punish civil servants who violate citizens' personal rights, by abusing their powers to engage in actions such as illegal detention.

－Reducing the rate of pretrial detention. China implements a system to categorize criminal suspects based on the threat they pose to society. Those who pose no threat to society and those who present a level of risk that is preventable by non-detention measures will not be arrested. The state will improve the mechanism for reviewing the necessity of detention, promote substantive review over the extension of the detention period, and regulate and improve supervision of non-detention measures such as release on bail pending trial.

－Strictly prohibiting extracting confession by torture. It is strictly forbidden in China to extract confession by torture, or collect evidence by threat, inducement, deception and other illegal means, or coerce anyone into proving their guilt. A mechanism is in place to ensure the whole process of all law enforcement activities is recorded by different means, and all records are under closed-loop management.

－Improving the supervision mechanism. China will strengthen supervision of criminal case filing and investigation activities, and of compulsory measures for deprivation or restriction of personal freedom. It will improve the supervision mechanism of the execution of criminal sentences.

－Protecting the lawful rights of detainees and criminals. Regulations on detention house management will be improved to better protect detainees' rights. Corporal punishment, torture, abuse and beating of criminals or connivance in beatings by a third party are strictly banned. Prisoners who abuse other inmates are severely punished. Medical and health care facilities and teams in prisons will be improved, to better protect the lives and health of detainees.

－Enforcing the Community Correction Law. China safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of minor offenders under community correction orders. Social forces will be mobilized to strengthen education and assistance for these people.

－Safeguarding the legitimate rights of people on drug rehabilitation. China will implement the Narcotics Control Law and the Regulations on Drug Rehabilitation. It will refine the mechanism for the rehabilitation of drug addicts, which may consist of voluntary rehab, community-based rehab, mandatory rehab in isolation and/or community-based recovery, and it will strengthen the system of education, rehabilitation and treatment. It will also improve correction through education, medical treatment, sanitation, and safety management.

3. Individuals' Information Rights and Interests

China will strengthen protection of personal information by improving relevant laws and regulations, supervision, law enforcement, and educational campaigns. In addition, it will work hard to ensure internet and data security.

－Improving the legal system for protecting personal information. China will introduce a law on protecting personal information. It will define the principles and improve the rules of personal information processing, set strict limits on processing of sensitive personal information, clarify the rights of individuals in such activities, strengthen the compliance management obligations of personal information processors, and define strict legal responsibilities. It will create and issue supporting regulations, standards and judicial interpretations for protecting personal information.

－Supervision, law enforcement and awareness raising of personal information protection. China will strengthen supervision and law enforcement of personal information protection by launching targeted actions to investigate and punish illegal collection and use of personal information, by establishing a system for reporting personal information infringements, and by building a strong contingent of law enforcement personnel and improving their work efficiency. Publicity and education campaigns to enhance legal awareness of personal information protection will be launched in different forms and through different media channels, including the National Cyber Security Publicity Week, newspapers, radio, television, and new online media.

－Safeguarding cyber and data security. China will intensify efforts to implement the Cyber Security Law, the Data Security Law, and other laws, related institutions, and measures for ensuring cyber and data security. Measures will be taken to protect networks from interference, destruction or unauthorized access, and prevent network data leakage, theft and tampering. Security risk monitoring of networks and data will be strengthened; security incidents are to be handled promptly; robust action will be taken against illegal and criminal activities such as theft of network data and illegal trading of personal information. All these will effectively secure network data and personal information.

4. Freedom of Religious Belief

China will continue to follow policies on freedom of religious belief, and protect citizens' freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law. It promotes harmonious religious relations, manages religious affairs in accordance with the law, and supports all religions in upholding the principle of independence and self-management. These efforts will help to guide religions to adapt to socialist society, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of religious practitioners and believers.

－Implementing policies on freedom of religious belief. China will improve systems for religious affairs management, and create and release more supporting rules for the Regulations on Religious Affairs to regulate government management of religious affairs by law and protect the legitimate rights and interests of religious practitioners and believers.

More education campaigns will be carried out to improve legal awareness of religious practitioners and believers, protect their legitimate rights and interests, and guide them to keep their activities within the scope prescribed by law.

Venues for religious activities must be registered under their legal persons to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of such venues. More support will be given to religious organizations in running religious schools, so as to improve the system for cultivating religious professionals.

－Safeguarding and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of religious circles. China safeguards the legal rights and interests of the Buddhist and Taoist circles, supporting their efforts to heighten their commitment, build on their cultures and maintain a clean and sacrosanct atmosphere at their venues.

China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Muslims, supporting the China Islamic Association in organizing Muslims to travel to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage.

It supports and protects Christian denominations in their efforts to adapt Christian theology to the Chinese context and communicate it to the believers.

It supports and encourages all religions to carry out charitable activities in accordance with laws and regulations.

－Carrying out international exchanges in the field of religion. China supports and encourages all religions to conduct international exchanges on the basis of independence, equality, friendship, and mutual respect, and to establish, develop, and consolidate friendly relations with overseas religious circles.

－Resisting religious extremism. China opposes extremist religious thought, and helps to protect religious believers from such thought. It punishes those engaging in illegal and criminal acts such as violent terrorist and ethnic separatist activities in the name of religion in accordance with the law.

5. Rights to Vote and to Stand for Election

The state protects the rights to vote and to stand for election as prescribed by law. The National People's Congress （NPC） and local people's congresses at all levels are created through the combination of direct and indirect elections.

－Organizing elections of the people's congresses at five levels. In implementing the Electoral Law, the state will mobilize over 1 billion constituents to the greatest extent possible, to cast votes for more than 2 million deputies to the people's congresses at county and township levels. These deputies then elect deputies to the people's congresses at city/prefectural, provincial and national levels.

－Increasing grassroots representation in the people's congresses at all levels. The electoral system ensures that each people's congress has a certain proportion of deputies representing workers, farmers, and professional groups. In accordance with the Electoral Law amended in 2020, the numbers of deputies to the people's congresses at county and township levels will be revised, with an emphasis on increasing grassroots representation.

－Ensuring the migrant population's rights to vote and to stand for election. The state will facilitate their participation in elections, and allow more migrant workers, especially those with residence permits in their current location to vote and stand for election locally.

6. Rights to Be Informed and to Participate

In protecting the rights to be informed and to participate, the state guarantees legitimate access to government information for citizens, legal persons and other organizations, and ensures that people participate, in accordance with the law and in various ways and forms, in the management of state, economic, cultural, and social affairs.

－Standardizing and regulating government transparency at the grassroots level. The state is building a unified nationwide system of standards for grassroots government transparency, and promotes transparency in decision-making, enforcement, administration, services, and work results. The state will make information more accessible throughout society, and make additional efforts to ensure online access to government information and public services for the elderly and people with disabilities.

－Improving information transparency in public emergencies. The state will improve mechanisms for reporting public security incidents, major epidemics, natural disasters, and serious accidents to provide accurate information and respond to public concerns in a timely manner.

－Increasing judicial transparency. The state will refine the mechanisms and processes for making court and prosecution proceedings more transparent, and adjust them as required. Prosecuting organs at all levels have public spokespersons in place. They will implement and improve the systems for holding regular press conferences and for publishing information on major cases.

－Optimizing public participation in legislation and oversight. The state will improve the mechanisms for public participation in making laws, regulations and rules, in formulating national plans for economic and social development, and in other major decision-making processes. In soliciting public opinions on draft laws, the NPC will improve the feedback mechanism. The Legislative Affairs Commission and the Budgetary Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee will continue to solicit public views and suggestions regarding their work through their grassroots offices.

－Advancing extensive, multilevel, and institutionalized development of consultative democracy. The state takes a coordinated approach to promoting consultation carried out by political parties, people's congresses, government departments, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） committees, people's organizations, communities, and social organizations. The CPPCC is expanding consultative democracy in an all-round way through biweekly consultative forums, consultations on the handling of proposals, online deliberation of state affairs, remote consultations, and consultations with relevant Party and government departments and specific social sectors. The state will further institutionalize grassroots consultation and broaden the channels for public participation in community-level governance.

－Enhancing the system for community-level self-governance. The state will improve the institutions, standards, and procedures of direct democracy at the grassroots level, and encourage urban and rural communities to draw up their own rules and regulations on self-governance. The state will step up efforts to implement the system for making community affairs more transparent.

－Improving democratic management of enterprises and public institutions. The state will continue to provide open access to the affairs of enterprises and public institutions and improve procedures for democracy. In doing so it guarantees the rights of employees to be informed, to participate, to be heard and to exercise public scrutiny, and facilitate their effective participation in the democratic management of their enterprises and institutions. The role of employee congresses will be reinforced to support policies concerning welfare and social security for employees. When formulating, revising or determining rules, regulations or major programs concerning the immediate interests of employees, enterprises must bring the issues to employee congresses for deliberation and keep the employees informed.

－Encouraging nongovernmental actors to participate in social governance. The state gives full play to the role of people's organizations and social organizations in the governance of society. It supports and properly regulates the channels for market entities, new social groups, social workers, and volunteers to participate in social governance.

7. Rights to Be Heard and to Exercise Public Scrutiny

The state protects citizens' rights to be heard and to exercise public scrutiny in accordance with the law, providing them with diverse and convenient channels to express their views, and strengthening the role of the public in the national system for supervising the exercise of power.

－Enabling and regulating online expression of views. The state will make full use of the internet in accordance with the law to facilitate citizens' expression of concerns, complaints and suggestions, and employ big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and other technologies to collect and respond to public opinion and proposals in a timely manner.

－Better addressing public complaints. The state will improve the system for handling people's complaints, and take prompt action to address their legitimate concerns in situ in accordance with the law. Greater efforts will be made to separate litigation from complaints, and establish a legal framework for managing complaints. To understand the people's needs and concerns and pool their wisdom and strength, the state will build a platform for collecting public opinion and improve the system for soliciting public proposals.

Online channels for receiving complaints will be improved, and public complaint information systems will be connected nationwide to strengthen information-sharing among the government departments concerned. The state will improve the long-term mechanism for solving prominent problems in handling public complaints and implement accountability, to strengthen the protection of citizens' statutory rights.

－Strengthening supervision by the people's congresses. The NPC and its Standing Committee will work harder to ensure the application of the Constitution, improve procedures and mechanisms for interpreting the Constitution, and reinforce constitutionality reviews. A system for advance review and consultation concerning constitutional issues will be established, and the system for recording and reviewing normative documents will be improved.

－Increasing supervision over the exercise of administrative power. An administrative procedure law will be drafted, and the Law on Administrative Review will be amended, to intensify supervision over the exercise of administrative power and rectify administrative malpractices. The state protects the rights of citizens and social organizations to supervise administrative bodies by requesting administrative review and initiating administrative litigation.

－Improving public scrutiny. The state encourages media and citizens to exercise supervision through news reports and public opinion, and improves the system of people's supervisors. Relevant laws will be elaborated to better protect people who file reports or accusations of wrongdoing, and to make clear the legal consequences of retaliation against them.

－Enhancing grassroots supervision. Village supervision committees will be strengthened to ensure greater transparency, equity and justice in village affairs, and to protect the lawful rights and interests of villagers and village collectives. The introduction of a list of powers for village work will help to install a system for overseeing the exercise of power at village level, and to form a complete, thorough and coordinated supervision network involving the villagers, village affairs supervision committees, Party organizations at the next level up, accounting and auditing bodies, and other relevant authorities.

8. Right to a Fair Trial

The state will enforce full judicial accountability, modernize China's judicial system and capacity, and guarantee the right to a fair trial, so that equity and justice are served in every judicial case.

－Enforcing full judicial accountability. The state is committed to ensuring that the people's courts exercise adjudicative power independently and impartially in accordance with the law, and is working to improve the mechanisms for guaranteeing the fulfillment of statutory judicial duties and enforcing accountability for unlawful judgment. To strengthen legal oversight by prosecuting bodies, the state is also building a mechanism for the impartial and efficient exercise of prosecuting powers and a mechanism for the fair determination of judicial liabilities and ensuing punishments.

－Reforming and improving checks and oversight of judicial and law enforcement activities. Public security agencies will further reform the case filing system, and ensure accountability in law enforcement. The prosecuting bodies will increase oversight of the filing, investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.

－Advancing reform to establish a criminal procedure system with a focus on court proceedings. The rights of all parties involved are protected. The mandatory procedures of pretrial hearings, exclusion of illegally obtained evidence, and court investigation will be strictly implemented, to ensure that court trials play the decisive role in judicial decisions. Measures for protecting witnesses, authenticators, victims, and those who report offences will be improved. Leniency will be better applied to those who confess their crimes and submit to punishment in criminal proceedings.

－Reinforcing protection of lawyers' right to practice. Legal defense will be provided in all criminal cases, and defense lawyers' lawful rights are protected. Measures will be taken to better facilitate meetings between lawyers and detainees at detention houses, including providing more meeting rooms, and improving the meeting appointment mechanism.

－Enhancing and regulating legal aid. A new law on legal aid is being formulated. Citizens in financial difficulties and others eligible for legal aid will be provided with legal advice, legal representation, criminal defense, and duty counsel services for free. Provisions on legal aid prescribed in the Criminal Procedure Law and related regulations will be better applied to raise the availability and effectiveness of legal aid in criminal cases.

－Improving the system of people's jurors. The state will strengthen implementation of the Law on People's Jurors and the new mechanism for selecting and appointing people's jurors. The management of people's jurors will be improved to guarantee their participation in trials and increase their capacity to perform their functions. The scope of cases for their participation will be better defined.

－Strengthening litigation services. The goal is to make litigation services universally available, equally accessible, convenient, efficient, smart and targeted. Processes for filing, court proceedings, settlement, and enforcement of rulings will be expedited for cases concerning vulnerable groups or infringements of citizens' fundamental rights and interests.

－Developing smart litigation services. To make litigation easier for the public, intelligent software will be developed to provide citizens with litigation risk assessment, advice on pretrial mediation, information searching and counseling, and access to online judicial services.

－Optimizing public-interest litigation. The scope of public-interest cases will be expanded. A punitive compensation system will be introduced into public-interest civil litigation concerning the eco-environment and food and drug safety.

－Improving the state compensation and judicial assistance systems. Greater efforts will be made to handle cases involving state compensation, and to protect the lawful rights and interests of applicants for state compensation. A mechanism will be established to enhance judicial assistance and better coordinate it with social assistance.

III. Environmental Rights

China will implement a strategy of sustainable development, follow the general principle of reducing pollution and carbon emission, and promote green development. It will build a system to secure eco-environmental progress, improve the legal system for environmental protection, and accelerate green and low-carbon development. It will improve the environment, constantly meet people's increasing demands for a beautiful environment, and ensure harmony between man and nature.

1. Pollution Prevention and Control

China will fight and win the battle against pollution and continuously improve the eco-environment.

－Improving air quality. The state will take further actions to prevent and control atmospheric pollution, and coordinate its commitments to reducing air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions. It will keep improving air quality across the country and largely eliminate heavy pollution. Specific targets include: the average PM2.5 intensity in cities at or above the prefectural level to fall by 10 percent; the total emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds both to drop by more than 10 percent.

－Strengthening water treatment and protection. China will continue the environmental protection campaign to treat black and malodorous water bodies in cities and largely eliminate such phenomena in urban built-up areas. More efforts will be made to treat sewage in cities, towns and industrial parks and designate township-level concentrated drinking water source protection areas. The state will carry out comprehensive environmental improvement projects in key waters and preserve and enhance beautiful bays.

－Intensifying soil conservation. China will consolidate and improve the safe use of agricultural land, reduce the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and treat the pollution caused by agricultural plastic film. Departments taking major responsibility for supervision will be urged to fulfill their obligations in soil pollution prevention and control.

－Improving the treatment of sewage and solid waste. China will achieve full coverage of sewage pipe networks in urban areas, and ensure that treatment to render sewage sludge harmless reaches 90 percent and that the rate of utilizing municipal sewage as a resource exceeds 25 percent in water-constrained cities at the prefectural level and above. Centralized hazardous waste reuse and disposal facilities will be built with major industrial bases as the main locations. Efforts will be made to speed up the construction of centralized medical waste disposal facilities in cities at the prefectural level and above, and improve the collection, transport and disposal system for medical waste in every county.

－Improving garbage disposal in urban and rural areas. A basic system for dropping, collecting, transporting and disposing of sorted household garbage will be established in cities at the prefectural level and above. The national urban household garbage recycling rate will exceed 35 percent. Rural household garbage disposal will be advanced comprehensively, to realize extensive coverage of the waste collection, transport and disposal systems.

－Improving law-based environmental governance. China will improve its eco-environmental legal system. It will formulate and revise laws and regulations on Yellow River harnessing, noise pollution prevention and control, marine environmental protection, carbon emission trading management and eco-environmental monitoring. It will steadily push forward the formulation and revision of environmental standards, carry on the reform of comprehensive environmental law enforcement, and take resolute action against illegal and criminal activities in the eco-environmental field in accordance with the law.

2. Eco-Environmental Information Disclosure

China will make environmental information more transparent, and effectively guarantee people's right to be informed.

－Strengthening government information release. Eco-environmental protection departments will disclose timely eco-environmental information to the public through government websites, press briefings, media and other means that are convenient for the public.

－Improving law-based disclosure of corporate information. The state will formulate regulatory measures for and promote the reform of law-based disclosure of environmental information, and clarify the responsibility for and content of mandatory disclosure. The forms of disclosure will be improved and major environmental information will be released in a timely manner. Relevant departments will standardize environmental information disclosure by listed companies and bond issuing enterprises in accordance with the law, strengthen the sector-specific management of mandatory environmental information disclosure, and establish a mechanism for sharing environmental information.

3. Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

China will formulate and enforce environmental impact evaluation law and implement the measures for public participation in environmental impact evaluation, to facilitate effective public participation in environmental decision-making.

－Encouraging public participation. The state encourages the public to participate in the environmental impact evaluation of special plans that may cause adverse environmental impact and directly affect the environmental rights of the public.

－Improving supervisory mechanism. Measures will be taken to support the integration of the 12369 hotline for reporting environmental problems and the 12345 service hotline across the country. Complaints and reports of environmental problems via the WeChat platform will be handled promptly to help resolve prominent environmental problems affecting the immediate interests of the public.

4. Public Interest Environmental Litigation and Eco-Environmental Damage Compensation

China will encourage and expand the scope of public interest environmental litigation, and improve the systems of public interest environmental litigation and compensation for eco-environmental damage.

－Improving the litigation system. China will explore the scope of preventative public interest environmental litigation, formulate rules on implementing environmental bans, and publicize exemplary cases of public interest environmental litigation.

－Improving damage compensation system. Provincial and prefectural governments, as the claimants of eco-environmental damages within their respective jurisdiction, will hold those who cause damage accountable in accordance with the law, restore the eco-environment, and safeguard ecological security of the nation.

5. Territorial Eco-Environmental Restoration and Protection

China will adopt a holistic approach to conserving mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, and grasslands. It will make greater efforts to protect and restore ecosystems, enhance their self-restoring capacity and stability, and participate in shaping a shared future for all life on earth.

－Carrying out major projects for protecting and restoring key ecosystems. China will accelerate the building of ecosystem shields including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ecosystem shields, the Yellow River and Yangtze River key ecosystem zones, the Northeast forest belt, the North China sand control belt, the South China hilly and mountainous belt, and coastal belts. It will strengthen the protection and improvement of wetlands in the basins of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and major lakes. The protection rate of wetlands will reach 55 percent. China will promote the rehabilitation of grassland, forests, rivers and lakes, and improve the systems of crop rotation and fallowing. It will build an interconnected national-local platform for evaluating such projects and monitoring eco-environmental conditions.

－Building a system of nature reserves. The government will rigorously control destructive activities within nature reserves. It will advance the building of national parks including Sanjiangyuan （source of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers） and parks for protecting Northeast China tigers and leopards, great pandas and Hainan rain forests. Qinling Mountains, the Yellow River Estuary and other national parks will be established through reorganization.

－Carrying out major projects of biodiversity protection. China will build gene banks and rescue and breeding centers for rare and endangered wild animal and plant species, and set up special programs to save 48 critically endangered wild animal species and 50 plant species with extremely small populations.

6. Response to Climate Change

China will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase its adaptability to climate change. It will actively participate in global climate governance and realize sustainable development.

－Peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality. To achieve the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions （INDCs） on climate change, China will formulate a document on the guiding principles for reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality by fully applying the new development philosophy, and an action plan for peaking its carbon emissions before 2030, to form a policy system for achieving these goals in various regions, sectors and industries. It will improve the double control system over total energy consumption and energy intensity, with controlling fossil energy consumption as one of the main thrusts. A system will be implemented with carbon intensity control as the main target and total carbon emissions control as the secondary target. Localities with requisite conditions and key sectors and enterprises will be supported to peak carbon emissions first. China will raise the capacity of ecosystems to absorb carbon from the atmosphere. It will strengthen territorial planning and land use regulation, ensure that forests, grasslands, wetlands, seas, soil and frozen ground play an effective role as carbon sinks, and boost the carbon absorption increments of ecosystems. Comprehensive scientific investigation and research of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will be intensified.

－Increasing adaptability to climate change. The state will formulate and implement the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035, better monitor and assess the impact of global climate change on vulnerable regions in the country, and improve the climate adaptability of urban and rural development, agricultural production and infrastructure.

－Strengthening international cooperation. China will maintain its commitment to the principles of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and constructively lead and participate in international cooperation on climate change. It will press ahead with the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and actively carry out South-South cooperation on climate change.

Source: <https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202109/10/WS613a977ba310efa1bd66e813.html>