(According to Xinhua News Agency)China pledged on Monday to continue improving human rights in the world's most populous country and conducting dialogue with the international community.

"We are committed to implementing the basic principle of respecting and preserving human rights," said Wang Chen, the newly-appointed minister of the State Council Information Office at the opening of the two-day Beijing Forum on Human Rights.Human rights development is designated as one of the essential tasks of the Communist Party of China and the State, Wang told the forum.

The minister pointed to the "historic strides" in the country's human rights cause.

"Civil and political rights have been effectively protected," he said. "Political democracy at the primary level has made headway, with steady progress in the democratic systems of elections, decision making, management and oversight."

He also referred to the improving legal framework for human rights protection, as well as reforms in the judicial system. "The political, economic, social and cultural rights of all members of society have been fully observed."