����The procuratorial organs have performed their functions honestly, conscientiously strengthened legal supervision and safeguarded justice in law enforcement. In 2004, the procuratorial organs rejected applications for the arrest of 67,904 people; supervised over the canceling of investigation of 2,699 cases, which they found should not have been put on file for investigation; made decisions not to prosecute 21,225 people; appealed against court judgments of 3,063 criminal cases and 13,218 civil cases; proposed for review of 4,333 cases; put 5,569 criminal appeal cases on file for reinvestigation and changed the original judgments in 786 cases; and filed for investigation cases of power abuse, dereliction of duty, soliciting or accepting bribes and malpractices for personal gain involving 3,010 judicial personnel, thus effectively safeguarding the citizens' rights and ensuring fairness and justice. To strengthen the work of investigation and arrest, and to protect suspects' legitimate rights and interests, the Supreme People's Procuratorate formulated the "Opinions on Interrogating Suspects When Handling and Investigating Cases Involving Arrest." At present, all the provincial procuratorates, 349 at the prefecture and city level and 2,407 at the county level are experimenting with the system of citizen supervisors. They account for 86 percent of the total number of procuratorates throughout the country. Under the supervision of the citizen supervisors, 3,341 cases have been concluded, thus effectively preventing handling of cases in violation of law and guaranteeing the quality of case handling.

����Since May 2004, the Supreme People's Procuratorate has carried out a special campaign to severely deal with criminal cases involving government functionaries' infringement upon human rights by misusing their powers, focusing on cases of illegal detention and search, extorting confessions by torture, gathering evidence with violence, abusing people in custody, disrupting elections as well as serious cases of dereliction of duty that cause heavy losses of life and property of the people. In total, 1,595 government functionaries suspected of criminal activities were investigated and prosecuted, thus effectively bringing under control offences of infringement on rights.

����The judicial organs have strengthened supervision over trials and the handling of petitions and visits involving legal procedures and lawsuits. Adhering to the principle of "handling each and every appeal," they have addressed the "obstacles to appeal" in a practical way. In 2004, the procuratorates throughout the country handled and concluded 20,306 cases of appeal according to law, the people's courts at all levels handled 4.22 million petitions and visits of complaint, and corrected the judgments in 16,967 cases that were proved to be wrongly judged according to law, which accounted for 0.34 percent of the annual total of court decisions in effect.

����The trial system with Chinese characteristics has been further improved. Courts at all levels have further carried out the principle of open trial, striving to realize openness in filing for investigation, court hearing, conclusion of trial, and judgment documents and process of enforcement in the hope to promote justice with openness. Observance of trials by the general public has been facilitated with bulletins before trials and simplified procedures for attending trials. Over 50 million citizens observed trials in 2004.

����The lawyer system has been continuously improved. In 2004, the Supreme People's Procuratorate formulated the "Regulations of People's Procuratorates to Ensure the Lawful Practice of Lawyers in Criminal Procedures," and the Ministry of Justice promulgated the "Provisional Regulations on Lawyers' Visits to Criminals in Custody." Relevant authorities in various places also promulgated many regulatory documents to guarantee lawyers' rights in practice, all of which further ensured that lawyers practice in accordance with the law. Statistics show that up to June 2004 there were 114,500 lawyers in practice and 11,691 law firms in China.

����The legal aid system has been further improved. The Supreme People's Court adopted the "Decision on Providing Judicial Aid to Litigants with Real Financial Difficulties," improving the system of judicial aid. Payment of lawsuit fees have been reduced, exempted or allowed to be delayed, so that the litigants with real financial difficulties in civil and administrative cases, especially senior citizens, women, minors, disabled people, laid-off workers, migrant workers from rural areas, as well as victims of traffic, medical and industrial accidents, can afford to seek justice from the courts. In 2004, the courts throughout the country provided judicial aid in 263,860 cases, an increase of 15.6 percent from the previous year. The judicial aid totaled 1.09 billion yuan, 3.1 percent more than in the previous year. Lawsuit fees have been reduced or exempted for cases involving child-support payment, spouse-support payment and parent-support payment, and lawsuits brought by households in rural areas enjoying the "five guarantees" (food, clothing, medical care, housing and burial expenses - ed.) and by people in urban areas being provided with the minimum living guarantee. The issuance of the "Urgent Notice on Clearing Up Cases Concerning Delayed Payment for Construction Projects and Wages of Migrant Workers," in particular, provided judicial aid to migrant workers from rural areas in cases of labor disputes. As a result, 163,151 cases concerning demands for payment were concluded with high proficiency in filing for investigation, trial and enforcement. In 2004, governments at all levels throughout the country appropriated 217 million yuan in total for legal aid, 43 percent more than in the previous year. Throughout China, 3,023 legal aid organizations were set up, 249 more than in the previous year; and during the year, 190,187 legal aid cases were handled, 23,754 more than in the previous year, extending aid to 294,138 litigants. People from all walks of life also actively participated in legal aid work. The All-China Women's Federation and local women's federations have officially opened 2,700 legal aid centers for women and agencies for protection of women's rights. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions and local trade unions have established 2,990 legal aid organizations for workers. The China Disabled Persons' Federation and local disabled persons' federations have signed cooperation agreements with over 3,000 law firms for legal aid in cases concerning the protection of disabled people's rights. Over 30 institutions of higher learning, including Peking University, Tsinghua University and Wuhan University, have provided legal aid services to people with difficulties by combining legal aid and clinical legal education.

����The legal rights and interests of people in custody are protected by law. In 2004, the Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly planned, organized and launched a drive to build "model units for strengthening the enforcement of surveillance and legal supervision, and for guaranteeing smooth criminal proceedings and the legal rights and interests of detainees" in all the detention houses throughout China. Consequently, a large number of model detention houses have emerged with advanced facilities, standard law enforcement and humane management. The system of meeting public procurators has been generally established in detention houses, supervision over food, health care and epidemic prevention for detainees has been strengthened, the detainees' physical health and protection of their property has been accorded with greater attention, and the system of informing detainees of their rights, the system of open procuratorial work and visit system have been improved, thus effectively protecting detainees' legal rights and interests. By the end of 2004, the Chinese procuratorial organs had set up 77 sub-procuratorates in large prisons or areas where prisons and reeducation-through-labor camps are concentrated, and over 3,700 procuratorial offices in medium-sized and small prisons, reeducation-through-labor camps and detention houses. Procurators have been dispatched to over 90 percent of China's prisons, detention houses and reeducation-through-labor camps. The supervision system is being improved step by step.

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IV. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

����In 2004, China began to implement the scientific development concept of putting people first, focusing on promoting the all-round, coordinated development of the urban and rural areas, different regions, as well as economy and society, promoting all people's equal participation in development and share of development results, and continuously enhancing the level of people's enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights.

����The Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection of laborers' rights. The state has adopted many measures to promote employment and reemployment, including reemployment aid, strengthened control of unemployment and regulation over staff cuts by enterprises. In 2004, there were 9.8 million new employees and 5.1 million reemployed laid-off workers in urban areas in China; the registered unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in urban areas, 0.1 percentage point lower than in the previous year. By the end of 2004, the number of workers laid off from state-owned enterprises shrank to 1.53 million, of whom 920,000 joined reemployment service centers, where they received subsistence allowances, and which paid their social insurance premiums.

����The labor security and social insurance systems have been further strengthened. In 2004, the State Council promulgated and implemented the "Rules of Supervision over Labor Security," thus providing a legal basis in this aspect. The "Provisions on Collective Contracts" and the "Provisions on Minimum Wages" were amended and promulgated. A minimum-wage guarantee system has been established in all areas, and most areas have readjusted the minimum-wage standards in a timely and appropriate way. The "Corporate Annuity Trial Measures" and the "Management of Corporate Annuity Funds Trial Measures" were enacted and promulgated to promote the establishment of a multi-level system of old-age insurance. The management of hospitals and pharmacies designated for medical insurance has been further improved. Guidance has been given to employees of organizations of mixed ownership and non-state-owned enterprises to participate in medical insurance, and the catalogues of medicines covered by basic medical insurance and industrial injury insurance have been amended to better cater to the demands of the insured for reasonable use of medicine. Considering the constant flow of migrant workers from rural areas, a special policy has been made and implemented for their participation in industrial injury insurance and the payment of compensation for industrial injuries. A comprehensive study has been launched of the situation of employment and social security of migrant workers from rural areas and farmers whose lands have been requisitioned. Energetic efforts have been made to promote the participation of employees of high-risk enterprises in industrial insurance in light of the high risks they are exposed to.

����The coverage of social insurance has been continuously expanded, and various insurance funds and social security funds have continued to increase considerably. In 2004, the central treasury put 146.5 billion yuan into social security, 18.1 percent more than in the previous year. The standards of basic pensions for retirees from enterprises and the minimum living guarantee for urban residents in some areas have been raised. In 2004, basic pensions were duly and fully issued to all retirees from enterprises throughout China, totaling 303.1 billion yuan, with 52.2 billion yuan of subsidies from the central treasury. By the end of 2004, the numbers of people participating in basic pension insurance, unemployment insurance, medical insurance and industrial injury insurance in urban areas had reached 164 million, 106 million, 124 million and 68.45 million, respectively, 8.47 million, 2.11 million, 15.02 million and 22.70 million more than at the end of the previous year respectively. In the rural areas, 55 million people had participated in social old-age pension system. In 2004, 4.19 million people received unemployment insurance benefits, 0.52 million people received compensation under the industrial injury insurance scheme, about 2.20 million farmers received old-age pensions, and 22.01 million urban residents were issued minimum living allowances by the government.

����The state has vigorously developed education, science, culture, health care and sports, striving to guarantee citizens' rights to education, culture and living in an all-round way. In 2004, the central treasury earmarked 98.7 billion yuan and invested 14.7 billion yuan in treasury bonds for these purposes. In the same year, the central treasury appropriated various special-purpose funds, totaling over 10 billion yuan, for compulsory education in rural areas, an increase of more than 70 percent from the 5.8 billion yuan of 2003. The central treasury appropriated 6.8 billion yuan for education, including basic universal nine-year compulsory education and basic elimination of illiteracy among young and middle-aged people ("two basic's" for short), as well as construction of public health care facilities in the western regions, 2.7 billion yuan more than in the previous year. As a result, 2.0558 million illiterate people received rudimentary education, 2,364 boarding schools in western rural areas are being built, ramshackle buildings of 8,130 secondary and elementary schools in central and western China were renovated, and 24 million students from impoverished families within the compulsory education period in central and western rural areas received free textbooks. At present, there are more than 70,000 private schools (educational establishments) at all levels and of various kinds, with over 17 million students, and more than 10,000 training institutes. In 2003, the national treasury appropriated 109.4 billion yuan for compulsory education in rural areas, more than twice the 53.3 billion yuan in 1999 and accounting for 80 percent of the total funds for the purpose in the same year.

����In 2004, the enrolment of technical college students and undergraduate students throughout the country was 4.473 million, 0.65 million more than in 2003, and the enrolment of graduate students was 0.326 million, 0.057 million more than in 2003. At present, there are over 20 million students in institutions of higher learning in China, and the gross enrolment ratio for higher education has reached 19 percent. Enrolment in secondary vocational education has reached 5.48 million, and there are now 13.68 million students in such schools. There are 5.957 million undergraduate students and technical college students in institutions of higher vocational education, 1 million more than in the previous year.

����Cultural undertakings continued to develop and the people's cultural life continued to improve. By November 2004, the national cultural information sharing project had 32 provincial sub-centers, nearly 3,000 grass-roots centers and over 50,000 terminal users. By the end of 2004, the country had 2,599 art troupes, 2,858 cultural centers, 2,710 public libraries, 1,509 museums, 282 radio stations, and 314 TV stations with 60 education channels. There were about 115 million cable TV users, and 30 cities with cable digital TV services for 1.22 million users. The overall population coverage rates of radio and TV broadcasting were 94.1 percent and 95.3 percent, respectively. In 2004, 212 feature films and 44 films on science and education, documentaries and animated cartoons were produced. In the same year, 25.77 billion copies of national and provincial newspapers, 2.69 billion copies of periodicals of various kinds and 6.44 billion copies of books were published. A relatively complete public cultural service system had taken initial shape, and the people's basic cultural rights were protected.