These ideas advocated by ancient sages have a deep seated influence in Chinese society. Human rights as enjoyed by the Chinese people today have never been as extensive. As a developing country of 1.2 billion people, China's very reality determines that the right to subsistence and development is the most fundamental and most important human right in China. Before adequate food and clothing is ensured for the people, the enjoyment of other rights would be out of the question. During the past twenty years or so, the number of people living below the poverty line in China has dropped by nearly 200 million providing a necessary material condition for better enjoyment of rights by the people.
Human rights are of universal significance.
Given the fact that there are so many countries in the world, the realization of human rights must be based on the efforts of the countries. Therefore, the issue of human rights is essentially a subject matter within a country's sovereignty. Human rights come as a product of history, and their full realization requires an evolutionary process which must tally with a country's economic and cultural development level. Collective and individual human rights, economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights are inseparable from one another. The Chinese Government takes upon itself the task to protect human rights according to law and oppose all activities of violating the lawful rights of its citizens.