China is forging a distinctively people-centered path in human rights development, steadily enhancing protections as it advances modernization, scholars said on Tuesday at an academic seminar in Jinan, Shandong province.

The event, titled "Chinese Modernization and Human Rights Protection", brought together about 100 scholars to discuss theoretical innovations and practical experiences in human rights within the context of China's modernization.

"Chinese modernization has constructed a new value system for human rights civilization, forming a people-centered human rights theory paradigm with Chinese characteristics," said Lu Guangjin, vice-president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies and a law professor at Jilin University.

This approach "has pioneered a development-based model of human rights that strengthens the synergy between progress and rights," he said, adding that Chinese modernization opens new horizons for global human rights development and enriches the diversity of human rights civilization.

Across sectors, the principle of putting people first has been central to China's human rights efforts, scholars said, citing practical examples.

One case is agricultural modernization in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

"The agricultural modernization drive of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has yielded remarkable achievements, reinforcing rights to survival and development through tangible practice," said Zhang Yonghe, executive dean of the Human Rights Institute at the Southwest University of Political Science and Law. "This development has allowed the fruits of progress to be shared more widely and fairly among the local population."

Scholars at the seminar agreed that China's human rights practice under modernization not only benefits its own people but also offers innovative solutions to global human rights governance.

Chinese modernization promotes concepts such as advancing human rights through development, win-win cooperation, and building a community with a shared future for humankind, contributing Chinese perspectives and approaches to global human rights governance, said Luo Yanhua, a professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University.

Participants also agreed that Chinese modernization has opened new paths for human rights progress, both in theory and practice. They called for developing stronger theories, improving the independent knowledge system on human rights, and sharing more insights with the global community.

"Amid growing global challenges, the scope of human rights continues to expand and its content continues to deepen," said Baimachilin, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress and president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies. "Major efforts should be given to cutting-edge interdisciplinary fields such as digital human rights, AI ethics, climate change and environmental rights, rights protection during public health crises, and biotechnology and human rights."

The event was hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies and organized by the Center for Human Rights Studies of Shandong University and the university's law school.

Zheng Lihui contributed to this story.