Colleagues,

First of all, on behalf of my Chinese colleagues, I'd like to thank Secretary Kerry for joining us today and for his remarks. I want to thank our American colleagues for your condolences to the Chinese people over the deadly explosion in Tianjin. Our hearts are with our fellow Chinese men and women, even though we are thousands of miles away. Please let me express our most sincere condolences to the victims, and wish those wounded a speedy recovery.

China takes the Human Rights Dialogue very seriously. As you can see, our delegation is composed of high-level officials from as many as 10 ministries. The Chinese side is ready to engage in full and candid discussions with the U.S. side on the basis of equality, share practices and experiences, and discuss our differences. We hope that our joint efforts will make the Dialogue as productive as it can be.

Achieving "Human Rights for All" is a shared goal of all nations. It is also what the Chinese government and people want dearly. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China stipulates that the State respects and protects human rights. President Xi Jinping stressed that the people's wish for a good life is our goal. To that end, we are going all out to build a moderately prosperous society, push for all-round and deeper-level reform, advance rule of law, and strengthen the Communist Party's self-discipline. We are striving to realize the Chinese dream of great national rejuvenation. In the meantime, we are also making steady progress on human rights.

The human rights cause of a nation takes root in its national reality. The perception and pursuit of the people dictate in what direction the human rights cause should go and what the priorities should be. Countries must engage in dialogue and communications on the basis of equality and mutual respect to enhance mutual understanding and to learn from each other. The world is changing. The human rights cause should keep pace with the changes. "There is always something better than the best". There is no magic wand. Better human rights needs tireless efforts. I hope that China and the United States can provide useful experiences to the international human rights dialogue and cooperation.

China-U.S. relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations in today's world. A healthy, stable and growing China-U.S. relations is important not only to our two countries, but also to the whole world. President Xi Jinping will make his first state visit to the United States next month at the invitation of President Obama. The visit will give a significant push to the development of the new model of major-country relationship between China and the U.S., and further deepen our all-round cooperation. China is ready to work closely with the U.S. to enhance our communication and exchanges at all levels and in all fields, such as the current Human Rights Dialogue, and make thorough preparations for the visit to ensure the visit a complete success.

Thank you.