CUI JIA in Beijing and LIU MINGTAI in Changchun

The people-centered Chinese path to modernization is key in protecting and improving human rights in China, human rights experts said.

China has been attaching great importance to improving people's human rights during the process of achieving social and economic development, as the goal of the Chinese path to modernization is to ensure the all-around development of human rights, said Lu Guangjin, deputy head of the China Society for Human Rights Studies and a professor at the Human Rights Research Center of Jilin University.

He made the remarks during a symposium discussing the Chinese path to modernization and the all-around development of human rights on Saturday. Supported by the society, the symposium was held by the university in Changchun, Jilin.

In recent years, the Chinese path to modernization has been people-centered so significant progress has been made in improving people's different human rights, Cai Lidong, deputy president of Jilin University, said at the symposium.

Since 2012, China has helped some 100 million people shake off poverty. It has also improved education and social security systems to improve people's rights of development. Also, the introduction of whole-process people's democracy has ensured people's rights of participation, expression and supervision, Cai said.

"China will continue to improve human rights while following the Chinese path to modernization and offer Chinese wisdom in human rights protection to the world," Cai said.

Chang Jian, director of Nankai University's Research Center on Human Rights, said the Chinese path to modernization aims to achieve common prosperity, which requires the country to attach greater importance to protecting the human rights of the low-income population and further promote social fairness and justice.

He added that China, with its large population, needs to take steady steps in improving human rights, which are still facing many challenges, including unbalanced economic development.