China will play "a more active and responsible role" in handling regional issues in a bid to inject fresh momentum into the global cause of human rights, a senior official promised at a human rights forum.

Liu Qibao, head of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that as of now, China has sent over 30,000 personnel to participate in UN Peacekeeping operations, the most among all five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

"China has forgiven the debts of some extremely poor and underdeveloped countries of 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) over the past five years," Liu said in his keynote speech at the Beijing Forum on Human Rights. The two-day event began on Wednesday.

More than 100 officials and human rights experts from over 30 countries and regions are attending the two-day event.

The Beijing-proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives plus the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank are designed to forge an inclusive community with a shared destiny, Liu said.

They also have great potential to boost all economies involved as well as human rights across the globe, he said.

Liu stressed that China will keep pursuing the realization of the "Chinese Dream", steady economic growth and promotion of the rule of law in order to guarantee its people's well-being.

In a congratulatory letter to the forum, President Xi Jinping said that China will stand firm on the principle of peaceful development and continue to contribute to the cause of human rights at home and abroad.

People's right to live and develop, especially those in less-developed countries, should be a priority for China and the international community, Xi said in his letter. He also called for closer international exchanges and cooperation in the field of human rights.

Xi's remarks were echoed by Huang Mengfu, chairman of the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, who called for concrete efforts to ensure that more people enjoy their right to development, given notable security threats like extreme terrorism and the influx of Syrian refugees into Europe.

"Developed economies, and China too, are obliged to grant less-developed markets a better say in global economic affairs, which largely depends on a fairer and safer global order," Huang said.

The annual event was first held in 2008 and has become a key platform for human rights exchanges among different countries, ethnicities and cultures.

cuishoufeng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/17/2015 page4)