Chinese, int'l social organizations exchange experiences on promoting global human rights

Civil society organization representatives from China and other countries held meetings on the sidelines of the 57th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to exchange experiences on their role in promoting global human rights and sustainable development.

The Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland and China Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Network for International Exchanges jointly hosted the event entitled "NGOs: advancing the right to developement in an equitable and inclusive way" in Geneva.

Some attendees at the meeting said that the close cooperation between NGOs from China and Africa is indispensable for achieving sustainable development in Africa, and that Chinese NGOs, as important participants in global human rights governance, have made significant contributions to social progress and human rights development in China.

The Beijing Guangming Charity Foundation, a Chinese NGO, held a charity forum on autism on Tuesday at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, where Chinese and foreign participants exchanged ideas on raising global awareness of autism.

Attendees called on governments, social organizations, and research institutions to work together to raise awareness of autism and create a favorable international environment for autistic individuals based on the principles of mutual respect and equality and mutual benefit.

This forum also released the consensus and action blueprint for charitable philanthropy for autism.

Chinese, int'l social organizations exchange experiences on promoting global human rights

Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province experienced a significant spike in sales of new apartments during the National Day holiday that ended on Monday, thanks to the new real estate policies the city government issued before the holiday.

With a series of stimulus measures to ease restrictions on home buying and optimize mortgages, Shenzhen had more than 1,800 units of new apartments sold in the seven days from October 1 to 7, up 6.6 times year on year.

In a real estate agency in Shenzhen, agents worked overtime to handle increasing clients throughout the seven-day holiday, and bookings are still piling up, said Wang Qibo, the manager.

The new policies reduced the down payment ratio and taxes, making new housing more affordable to customers, Wang said.

"Normally apartments of 80 to 90 square meters were priced around 11 million yuan before the policy adjustments, and the down payment ratio was 20 percent, which is around 2.2 million yuan. Following the new policies, the down payment ratio was lowered to 15 percent, which is 1.6 million yuan," said Wang.

Similar trends were seen in Beijing, where the sales of both new and second-hand homes surged during the holiday. Data from real estate agencies show that 15,000 units of new apartments were sold in the city during the holiday, marking a 200 percent jump from the same period last year.

New apartment sales surge in Shenzhen