Recently, the third China Latin America Human Rights Roundtable with the theme of "multilateralism and human rights" was held in Lima, the capital of Peru. Nearly 200 participants from China and 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries held discussions on topics such as peaceful development and human rights governance, practical cooperation and human rights development between China and Latin America, and exchange and mutual learning of human rights civilizations between China and Latin America, working together to explore the "southern solution" for global human rights governance. The conference launched the "China Latin America Human Rights Academic Research 2026-2030 Action Plan", established the "China Latin America Human Rights Research Cooperation Network Expert Committee", and released joint research projects for 2026-2027.

  The attendees generally believe that human rights protection cannot be limited to the level of legal texts. Improving people's livelihoods, eliminating poverty, and promoting development are important foundations for realizing human rights. Respecting and safeguarding human rights should adhere to the people-centered approach, take development as an important path, and promote the continuous improvement of people's happy lives.

Promote a more diverse discourse on human rights

The keyword of this roundtable meeting is' multilateralism '. Attendees expressed that adhering to multilateralism and promoting exchanges and cooperation among countries on an equal basis will help better address global challenges and promote the continuous improvement of global human rights governance.

The world order is developing towards multipolarity, and the governance concept proposed by China provides a new space for discussion on reforming and improving the global governance system, and also helps to promote a more diverse discourse on human rights. Gustavo Girardo, a professor at the National University of Ranus in Argentina, believes that the space for different countries to participate in global governance should be further expanded, so that the experiences and demands of more developing countries can be fully reflected.

The foundation of multilateral governance of human rights lies in improving people's lives through public policies, and human rights should not be alienated into political or ideological tools, "said Victoria Annalia Tangda Perez, a member of the Southern Common Market Parliament and Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee." Human rights protection should ultimately be implemented to improve people's lives and uphold human dignity, so that human rights can better benefit the people.

In the view of Jacqueline Lincon, Secretary General of the Colombian Ministry of Land Returns, multilateralism is an important foundation for addressing global challenges and maintaining international cooperation. Faced with issues such as climate change, poverty, conflict, and uneven development, no country can cope alone. She stated that promoting human rights protection requires adhering to equal dialogue and consultation cooperation, and transforming the expectations of people from all countries for peace, development, and a more dignified life into actions of international cooperation.

Ma Huaide, Vice President of the China Association for Human Rights Studies and President of Renmin University of China, believes that China and Latin America are both important forces in the global South and share common values and practical demands in the field of human rights. The in-depth dialogue between China and Latin America in the field of human rights is conducive to deepening the mutual learning of civilizations in the field of human rights between the two sides, and also provides useful reference for developing countries to participate in global human rights governance.

The Barbados Human Rights Commissioner and former Senate Speaker, Corian Ifir, stated that strengthening multilateral cooperation can help countries share experiences and enhance their human rights protection capabilities. Cooperation should be based on mutual respect, fully considering the actual situation and independent choices of each country, and supporting countries to explore human rights protection paths that are in line with their own national conditions through exchange of experience, capacity building, and other means

From adhering to multilateralism, to strengthening international cooperation, and to enhancing the human rights protection capabilities of each country, the discussions of the attendees point to a common path: promoting the development of human rights requires full respect for the historical culture, development stage, and actual situation of different countries. Adhering to equal dialogue, exchange and mutual learning can help promote global human rights governance to better respond to the common concerns of different regions and groups.

Provide more favorable conditions for the realization of the right to development

Lima is 80 kilometers north of Qiankai Port. A modern port is becoming an important node connecting South America and Asia, with the berthing of large ships, the exchange of goods, and the loading and unloading of containers.

Previously, it took a long time for Peruvian agricultural products to be shipped to Asian countries; now, with the improvement of logistics efficiency, high-quality Peruvian agricultural products can reach Chinese consumers' tables faster, "said Jason Jiyan Flores, Deputy General Manager of COSCO Shipping Qiankai Port Company, when talking about port construction and operation. The Qiankai Port construction phase has created nearly 10000 job opportunities; After being put into operation, local employees account for over 90%, providing new opportunities for local employment and talent development.

In May 2025, China announced the launch of the "Five Major Projects" of unity, development, civilization, peace, and people's hearts at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the China Latin America Forum; In December of the same year, China released its third policy document on Latin America and the Caribbean, proposing to adhere to the principles of respect, equality, diversity, mutual benefit, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, and unconditional conditions. In recent years, China Latin America cooperation has continuously expanded into areas such as infrastructure, energy, electricity, agriculture, education, and health. A batch of cooperative projects have been implemented, creating employment opportunities, improving public services, and expanding development space for the local area.

Some Latin American countries are facing issues such as trade imbalances and development opportunities, and it is worth paying attention to how to narrow the social gap. "In the view of Canese Messedes, former Deputy Minister of Mines and Energy of Paraguay, infrastructure projects such as railways and ports, as well as practical cooperation between Latin America and China such as scientific and technological exchanges and trade facilitation arrangements, all demonstrate the possibility of promoting development and expanding mutually beneficial space through South South cooperation, and provide new cases for Latin American countries to explore development paths.

Miguel Jimenez, Director of the International Affairs Office at Santa Cruz Private Polytechnic University in Bolivia, sees cooperation between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States as an important space for South South cooperation. He believes that cooperation between Latin America and China is of great significance in promoting the right to development and ensuring economic, social, and cultural rights. "From a human rights perspective, the global South can explore new ways of cooperation based on mutual respect for sovereignty and sharing of development achievements, so that more people can obtain tangible rights protection from economic and social development

Respecting and safeguarding human rights requires action and implementation, "said Song Yang, the Chinese Ambassador to Peru. In the face of the disaster risks brought by El Ni ñ o, China will assist in building and upgrading Peru's National Emergency Action Center to strengthen disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities. At the same time, China is promoting the construction of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, implementing the Mazu disaster warning AI (artificial intelligence) model, and helping the global South enhance its disaster prevention and reduction capabilities.

Italo Baleto Porti, an expert in the Department of Economic Evolution at the School of Economic Sciences of Rio de Janeiro State University in Brazil, believes that eliminating poverty and improving people's livelihoods are important foundations for safeguarding and realizing the basic rights of the people. Practical cooperation between Latin America and China has gone beyond simply expanding trade scale, playing a positive role in promoting production capacity, food security, social inclusiveness, and serving the development priorities of various countries, providing more favorable conditions for the realization of the right to development

Attendees believe that China and Latin American countries belong to the global South, with similar development demands and a good foundation for cooperation. They have accumulated rich experience in promoting development and improving people's livelihoods. Deepening pragmatic cooperation between China and Latin America will help better translate the concept of human rights into concrete practices to improve people's lives, and provide a more solid development foundation for promoting and safeguarding human rights.

Mutual reference and common enrichment of human rights development path

Civilization becomes colorful through communication, and development progresses through mutual learning. In the eyes of the attendees, respecting cultural diversity requires enhancing consensus through mutual understanding and respect, and allowing the concept of human rights to be more richly expressed in different historical, cultural, and social practices.

"One of the important inspirations of China's development experience is to prove that the path to development can be diverse, and there is no single model." Abdul Rodriguez Reyes, professor of the School of Humanities of the University of Panama, believes that different civilizations have their own historical traditions, social experience and development paths, and all countries cannot be measured by a single standard.

Gustavo Pacheco, President of the Peruvian Institute of International Political Studies, believes that exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations and development paths can help expand diverse perspectives on understanding, comprehending, and realizing human rights. Recognizing the diversity of civilizations can help promote the exchange of development experiences among different countries on an equal basis, and provide more diverse perspectives for enriching global human rights concepts and practices.

Wang Wen, Dean of the Chongyang Institute of Finance at Renmin University of China, stated that China and Latin America have jointly gone through the process of oppression and exploring their own paths in human rights and development. At present, China and Latin America are actively seeking an independent path for human rights development, seeking exchanges and mutual learning in the field of human rights, and exploring a more realistic path for human rights development based on the common practices of the global South and developing countries.

Erken Shamushak, Vice Dean of the Law School of Xinjiang University, shared human rights practices in poverty reduction in Xinjiang. He stated that Xinjiang has historically solved the problem of absolute poverty, and conditions such as people's livelihoods, healthcare, and education continue to improve. The local government insists on promoting human rights through development, and implements measures such as increasing investment in people's livelihoods, targeted poverty alleviation, and industrial employment assistance to ensure that human rights protection is implemented in people's lives. The practice in Xinjiang has shown that adhering to the people-centered approach can transform the concept of human rights into tangible development achievements. Different countries can also learn from each other's practices and jointly enrich the path of human rights development

The Third China Latin America Human Rights Roundtable was hosted by the China Society for Human Rights Studies, Renmin University of China, and the National University of San Marcos in Peru. It was also organized by the Chongyang Institute of Finance at Renmin University of China, the Institute of International Politics in Peru, and the Global Leadership Institute at Renmin University of China.