Jia Guide, China's permanent representative and ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, attends an informal high-level discussion marking the 20th anniversary of the Human Rights Council, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 19, 2026. (Xinhua/Wang Qibing)
GENEVA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Global Governance Initiative provides a Chinese solution to the global governance deficit and sheds new light on how to strengthen and improve the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a Chinese envoy has said.
Jia Guide, China's permanent representative and ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Switzerland, made the remarks at an informal high-level discussion marking the 20th anniversary of the Human Rights Council on Friday during the 62nd session of the council.
Jia said that the 20th anniversary of the Human Rights Council is an important moment to reaffirm the council's original aspirations, reflect on the present and look ahead to the future.
Strengthening and improving the work of the council requires upholding the principles of sovereign equality and the international rule of law, he noted.
"The council should be guided by principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity, non-selectivity, and constructive dialogue and cooperation, and oppose politicization. It also requires upholding a people-centered approach, practicing multilateralism," said Jia.
The council should promote balanced development of civil and political rights with economic, social and cultural rights, and place the right to development higher on the multilateral human rights agenda, he said. "Furthermore, it requires an action-oriented approach, promoting universal and equitable benefits. The council should, based on the consent of the countries concerned, invest more in capacity building and technical assistance."
Noting that civilizations exist in rich diversity, Jia said every country's independently selected human rights development path deserves full respect. "We must correctly grasp the dialectical link between the universality of human rights and civilization diversity," he said.
China values the promotion and protection of human rights, unswervingly follows the Chinese path of human rights development, Jia said, adding that China is ready to cooperate with all nations to advance the sound development of global human rights undertakings and help build a community with a shared future for humanity. ■
