Event highlights human rights cooperation

Amid growing international volatility, China and Chile, both as important members of the Global South, can strengthen human rights dialogue to share development opportunities, improve people's livelihoods and well-being, promote development, and enhance human rights protection, experts said.

They made these remarks at the 2026 China-Chile Human Rights Symposium, which was held on Wednesday in Santiago, the Chilean capital.

The symposium was jointly organized by the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the University of Chile.

Under the theme "China-Chile Exchange, Mutual Learning and Common Development — Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Development", participants exchanged views on China and Chile's respective approaches to and practices in advancing the right to development, as well as practical cooperation and the realization of the right to development for all.

Adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1986, the declaration formally recognized the right to development as an inalienable human right for the first time. It affirmed that everyone is entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural, and political development.

Niu Qingbao, China's ambassador to Chile, said China is advancing the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, seeking to safeguard human rights through security, promote human rights through development and advance human rights through cooperation.

Common destiny

As the world's largest developing country, China has always stood in solidarity with other developing countries, sharing a common destiny with them. Having achieved a historic victory in its fight against poverty, China has also actively contributed to global efforts to eradicate poverty in all its forms, Niu said.

The ambassador said that, as it continues to advance modernization with Chinese characteristics, China is committed to working with other countries of the Global South to achieve modernization together.

It has provided development assistance to more than 160 countries, cooperated with more than 150 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, established the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, and launched the five major programs for China-Latin America solidarity, development, civilization, peace, and people-to-people connectivity, to build a China-Latin America community with a shared future, he added.

Federico Rojas de Galarreta, a professor at the Institute of International Studies at the University of Chile, said that at a time when many parts of the world are beset by confrontation and conflict and multilateralism faces mounting challenges, multilateral dialogue is essential to addressing gaps in social development and tackling the underlying causes of many geopolitical conflicts.

Li Hongkui, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, said that multilateralism is the only way to maintain world peace, promote common development, and improve global governance.

Today, as global challenges such as development imbalances, the digital divide and climate change increasingly overlap and exacerbate one another, developing countries still have a long way to go in realizing the right to development, said Yue Yunxia, deputy director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.