Human rights 'progress' hailed

China has been working effectively toward goals set by the National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-15), with most quantitative targets at least half fulfilled in the past two years, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"China has made considerable progress in human rights protection," said Cai Mingzhao, director of the State Council Information Office, at a meeting during which an interim review of the action plan was conducted.

Last year, the disposable income of urban residents grew by 7 percent, while per capita net income of rural residents rose by 9.3 percent, and the country's poor rural population decreased by 16.5 million compared with 2012, according to Cai.