Mr. Chairman, Madame Rapporteur, Distinguished Members of the Committee,

 Today I have the great honour to represent the Chinese government on the occasion of the Committee's consideration of China's initial report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Over the years, the Committee has made enormous efforts for the promotion of the principles and objectives of the Covenant. The Chinese delegation would like to first extend our greetings and respects to the distinguished members of the committee.

 The Chinese government attaches great importance to the submission and consideration of this report. The Chinese delegation is composed of representatives of the central government, of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and of the Macao Special Administrative Region, including senior officials from major governmental organs responsible for the implementation of the Covenant. During the coming two days, we are willing to actively cooperate with the members, frankly answer your questions and attentively listen to your comments and recommendations.

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Members of the Committee,

 The Chinese government signed the Covenant on Oct. 27, 1997 and deposited the instrument of ratification on March 27, 2001. The Covenant entered into force with respect to China on June 27, 2001. On June 27, 2003 the Chinese government submitted its initial report through the UN Secretary-General to this Committee on time.

 The Chinese government attaches great importance to the preparation of this report. In June 2002, the Chinese government established a working group on the drafting of the report composed of 15 organs such as the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Construction. The Working Group carefully studied the Guidelines on the Format and Content of Reports and the Adopted General Comments and Recommendations of the Committee. After collecting and synthesizing the information from relevant governmental bodies, NGOs, academia and the press, we formulated a draft report which was submitted to various groups of the society for comments and was thereafter repeatedly revised and reviewed. The whole drafting process took no less than one year.

The report consists of separate parts on the implementation of the Covenant by the central government, the Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. The part on the central government contains an introduction and 12 sections, exceeding 80 thousand words.  As this is the first report for the central government, in order to facilitate the Committee's understanding of the situation in China before and after the ratification of the Covenant, many component parts of the report cover a time span of ten years. The report focuses on the laws, plans and measures adopted, and organs established by the Chinese government to promote various rights under the Covenant, including our achievements as well as our difficulties and problems. The report also contains a large amount of data in an effort to comprehensively reflect China's situation.

 In May 2004, after initial consideration of the report, the Committee provided a list of issues, requesting the Chinese government to submit answers before November 1. The Chinese government overcame difficulties such as time constraints and the multitude of organs concerned, and dealt with the matter through a special mechanism. After 5 months of work on collecting and collating information, soliciting views, verifications and corrections, answers amounting to 100 thousand words were submitted on time.

 The Chinese government has used the drafting, submission and consideration of the report as an opportunity to give wide publicity to the Covenant. It has encouraged governmental organs, NGOs, academia and the media to carry out research and publicity activities, so as to help the public understand the various rights under the Covenant. Our supplementary information provided in last November already reflects the situation in this regard. Here I will just give you two recent examples. Starting from 12 January 2005 the China Society for Human Rights Studies launched in the most influential national newspaper, the People's Daily, a column entitled 100 Q & A on Human Rights which discusses two questions each week and will run for one year.  The column provides systematic introduction to all the international human rights instruments including the Covenant.  On April 18, the UN Association of China and China Youth Daily co-sponsored a competition on human rights knowledge which also covers the Covenant.  As of today the full text of the report is available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Members of the Committee,

China is the largest developing country with a population of 1.3 billion, of whom 700 million live in rural areas.  Due to constraints of economic development, the Chinese people started from a very low echelon in the enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights.  In the four years after the ratification of the Covenant, the Chinese government has made genuine efforts in fulfilling the obligations under the Covenant.  We have taken appropriate steps within our capacity to seek full realization of the rights as enshrined in the Covenant in a gradual manner.  In the course of the implementation, we have encountered problems and difficulties that are hardly imaginable by other states.  The report and the supplementary materials have made comprehensive elaboration on our implementation of the substantive provisions of the Covenant.  Since it has been quite awhile since China submitted the initial report and the supplementary information, I'd like to take this opportunity to update you with the latest on China's efforts in promoting and protecting the economic, social and cultural rights including the problems encountered and the corresponding measures taken.

 1.  Improving people's overall living standard and wellbeing and narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas and between regions

In 2004 China achieved a gross GDP of 13.65 trillion yuan which represents an increase of 9.5% over the previous year.  The per capita disposable income of urban and township residents reached 9,422 yuan, or close to 1,200 US$.  The per capita net income of rural residents reached 2,936 yuan, representing a real growth of 6.8% over the previous year.  This is the year of fastest growth ever witnessed since 1977.  The central finance allocated a budget of 12.2 billion yuan for poverty alleviation.  The poverty stricken population in the rural area was reduced by 2.9 million compared with the previous year.

However considerable gap still exists between urban and rural areas and between the eastern and western regions in terms of economic development.  In some areas especially in the vast rural areas, many problems remain unresolved in such sectors as education, health and culture.  Farmers' income is relatively low.  In areas of harsh natural conditions, people who have lifted themselves from poverty can hardly enjoy a stable living.  They are very vulnerable to falling back to poverty when natural hazards or man made disasters strike.

In view of this situation, the government continues to give priority to solving the problems of agriculture, the rural areas and farmers.  In February, the State Council issued Directive No. 1/2004 in which it took the safeguard of farmers' material interests and the protection of farmers' rights and interests as its fundamental principle.  At the beginning of this year, the State Council issued another Directive No. 1/2005 which waived tax on animal husbandry for all regions and agricultural tax for 592 counties listed as priority counties for poverty alleviation.  Starting from next year, waiver of agricultural tax will be applied nationwide.  This overturns a history of more than two thousands years in which farmers had to contribute grain and pay tax to the state.  At present, the government continues to push forward the strategy of western region development focusing on solving the problems of infrastructure deficiency, deteriorating ecological environment and shortage of well trained and experienced talents in the west so as to help achieve economic development and social progress of the region.

2 Expanding employment focusing on safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers from rural areas

China has a large population at working age with low level of education.  We are facing an acute situation on employment.  It is manifested in the following forms: gross oversupply of labor exists in parallel with the irrational employment structure; the pressure of urban employment grows at the same time when the migration of rural surplus labor to non agricultural sectors is accelerating; the problem of new labor force employment is intertwined with re-employment of the unemployed.

In 2004 the government adopted such measures as assistance for re-employment, enhanced control of unemployment and regulating the layoff measures of enterprises in order to promote employment and re-employment.  9.8 million new employment opportunities were created in urban areas and 5.1 million laid off workers in urban areas were re-employed.  The registered unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 4.2%, a decrease of 0.1% over the previous year.  By the end of 2004 the number of laid off workers from state enterprises dropped to 1.53 million, among whom 920,000 were admitted to re-employment service centers which paid them basic subsistence allowances in full and also paid for their social security assessments.

In 2004 the State Council promulgated Rules on Supervision of Labor Security, amended Regulations on Collective Contracts and Regulations on Minimum Wages.  All localities have set up minimum wage systems.  Most areas have raised minimum wage standards. On the 1st of July 2004, basic retirement benefits for retirees of (state-owned) enterprises were increased cross the board in the whole country.  In certain localities, minimum subsistence guarantees for urban dwellers were also changed upward.  The annual expenditure on social security from the central government budget reached 1465 trillion yuan, an increase of 18.1% over the past year.  By the end of 2004, 164 million people have been covered by urban pension insurance, an increase of 8.47 million over last year, 106 million people have had unemployment insurance, an increase of 2.11 million over last year, 124 million people have had medical insurance, an increase of 15.02 million over the last year, and 68.45million people have had insurance against work-related accidents and injuries, a yearly increase of 22.7million.   55 million people have rural pension insurance.  In the same year, a total number of 4.19 million people received unemployment benefits, 520,000 people were entitled to work-related accidents and injury insurance premiums, and about 2.2 million farmers benefited from pension insurance. 22.01 million urban dwellers had access to minimum subsistence guarantee benefits provided by the government.

The Government continues to sort out and remove unreasonable restrictions on migrant workers from rural areas working in cities by taking the following measures:  improving employment advisory services for migrant workers from the countryside; strengthening their vocational training, work contract management  and work safety inspection; establishing  insurance schemes covering work-related accidents and injuries for migrant workers; promptly handling labor disputes involving migrant workers; supporting trade unions in their efforts to defend the rights and interests of migrant workers, and  finding comprehensive settlements to the overdue payments of construction contracts and  unpaid wages of migrant workers.  In the case of overdue wages, a total amount of 32.2 billion yuan has been paid by the end of 2004.

3  Developing medical and health service and promoting people's right to health

At present, the overall health level of the Chinese people exceeds the average level of a middle-income country, leading other developing countries in this regard.   Average life expectancy increases to 71.4 years old from 35 years old in 1949 when the New China was founded. Maternal mortality rate drops from 1500 per 100,000 before the New China to 51.3 per 100,000 in 2003.  Infant mortality rate drops from 200 per 1000 before the New China to 25.5 per 1000 in 2003.  In 333 counties (cities), experiments have been carried out on new forms of rural medical service cooperatives, covering about 100 million rural population.

The Government strengthens its comprehensive supervision on food and pharmaceutical products in order to ensure their safety for consumers.   The Government has taken vigorous measures to prevent and control major epidemics.   In 2003, China rapidly put under control and stemmed out the SAS epidemic found in Guangdong, Beijing and Anhui, and effectively prevented the spread of highly pathogenic avian flu epidemic in parts of the country.  The State Council issued the Directive on Effectively Strengthening the Prevention and Treatment of AIDS Disease, and set up a national committee for this purpose.  A national conference was held on the prevention and treatment of AIDS with a view to implementing the following policies:  free provision of anti-virus medicines to AIDS patients with financial difficulties, free and anonymous tests in the most-affected areas, free screening and prevention service for mother and the newly-born, free schooling for orphans left behind by AIDS patients, and financial assistance to needed AIDS patients.

4 Giving priority to education and promoting universal and compulsory education in the rural area and western regions of the country

The Government is studying and formulating the Chinese Framework for Education Development into 2020, which will be a strategic plan for the reform and development of China's education cause.  In 2004, the Government continued to give policy priority to education, and increased its input in the field of education.

At the moment,   8 percent of the localities of the country, all found in the mid and western region, are still unable to provide   universal nine-year compulsory education.  The Government has decided to start tackling the problem as a top priority from this year and will endeavor to accomplish the task within the current term of the Government.   Currently,  under the  two Basic Programs, ( basic realization of universal nine-year compulsory  education in the western region,  and basic elimination of illiteracy among young and middle-aged  population),   2364 boarding schools are being built in the mid and western regions, 8130 primary and middle school buildings  in the rural area are being renovated,  free textbooks are provided to more than 24 million students with financial difficulties who are receiving compulsory education in the mid and western region. Starting from this year, all students from poor families receiving compulsory education in those counties that are key areas under the poverty-alleviation program of the government are exempt from paying textbooks fees, and miscellaneous charges; and boarding students are entitled to daily allowance assistance. This policy will be applied in all rural areas across the country by 2007.

5  Effectively protecting the rights and interests of women and children, and promoting gender equality

Women enjoy basically same level of employment, remuneration and education as men in China.  Starting from 1975 to 2003,   women representation has been over 20 % in each session of the National People's Congress.

By the end of 2004, China has put in place 2603 coordinating groups or joint meetings at and above county level, 3183 courts or collegiate panels   for the protection of promotion of the rights and interests of women and children. 22 provinces have adopted regulations against domestic violence. The state is also an active provider of reproductive health service to women, and promotes informed choice in contraception and birth control as part of the effort to safeguard women's right to reproductive health and to informed choice. It has dealt with severely any illegal move to find out the sex of foetus for non-medical purposes, to artificially terminate pregnancy on sexual ground and to abandon or kill girl infants. Furthermore, a pilot campaign called "Care and Love for Girls" has been launched in 11selected counties in eleven provinces where there is a greater gender imbalance in the new born babies. We went on to expand the coverage of this pilot project to 24 counties in twenty-four provinces in 2004 on the national level. At the provincial and municipal levels, similar pilot projects were launched in 638 cities and counties and thus cover almost all the areas where greater gender imbalance is found. This represents an effective measure to protect the rights and interests of women and girls.

6  Creating a Social Environment to Care for Persons with Disabilities and Protecting their Rights and Interests

In 2004, China started to revise the Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons in order to strengthen the legal protection of their rights and interests.

Over the past year, 4.469 million persons with disabilities have benefited from various forms of social security in China. 1.27 million people with disabilities are able to meet their basic needs. 3.3 million of them have recovered to varying degree from disability; 4112 disabled persons have become college students; 5 43,000 of them have received vocational education and training; 40,000 have been granted scholarship. 305,000 new jobs have been created for them and the employment rate of the disabled has reached 80%.  Culture centres, libraries, sports centres and other public recreational facilities are also offering more amenities and services for such people. In addition, more than 50,000 contact points have been set up for volunteer workers to help the disabled. Progress is also under way to facilitate the mobility of disabled people in public places, and a social environment is being created which favours their equal participation and offers greater care for them.

7 Helping the development of Minority Regions and Promoting  Equality and Unity of All Ethnic Groups

The regional autonomy for ethnic minorities is part of the basic political system of China. There are 155 ethnic autonomous localities which are located mostly in the west of China, including the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the deserts and arid areas and the limestone areas in the southwest. For reasons of history and nature, those regions are relatively backward in terms of economic development.

From 2000 to 2004, the central government has invested 264 million yuan in an action plan covering 20,000 projects in the fields of infrastructure, agriculture, environment, culture and education to help develop those regions and create wealth for their people.  At the same time, the government has spared no effort to raise public awareness on ethnic equality and unity and to promote the peaceful co-existence and equality among various ethnic groups in the country.

Mr Chairman, Honourable members,

China has been making gigantic efforts in the face of daunting difficulties and challenges.  Last March, Premier Wen Jiabao stated in the Government Report submitted to the National People's Congress that we will pursue a people-centred scientific development strategy and promote comprehensive and coordinated  development between economy and society, between urban and rural areas, and among all regions; We will also endeavour to and we are confident that we can build a harmonious society characterised by democracy and  rule of law, equity and just, which is trustworthy and friendly, full of vigour and vitality, secure and orderly, with harmony reigning between man and nature, so that all people will benefit from the reform and economic development. To this end, we are ready to cooperate with the international community, including this committee, in order to bring about the progressive and full realization of all the rights enshrined in the Convenant.

Mr Chairman, distinguished members of the Committee,

On July 1, 1997 and December 20, 1999, China resumed its sovereignty respectively over Hong Kong and Macau. Special Administrative Regions have been set up in those two places under the principle of one country two systems which grants them a high degree of autonomy. In accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China, the international rights and obligations applicable to the two SARs under the Convenant fall into the mandate of the Chinese government. Their reports on the implementation of the Convenant have been submitted to the Committee for consideration as part of China's report.

Under the Basic Laws of the two SARs, Hong Kong and Macau have a social, economic and legal system which is different from that of the mainland and they also enjoy distinct executive and legislative power coupled with an independent judicial power and the power of final adjudication. In addition, they are also allowed to keep for 50 years the capitalist system and way of living and retain most of their original laws. As the implementation of the Convenant in those two SARs is different from that of the mainland, the parts on Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR in both the report and replies have been drafted by themselves.

Now, please allow me to pass the floor to Mr Stephen Fisher, Acting Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs of the Hong Kong SAR and Mr. Jorge Costa Oliveira, director of international law office of the Macau SAR to present the reports on the implementation of the Convenant in Hong Kong and Macau.