BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory letter to the Forum on Global Human Rights Governance.

At a time of severe challenges facing the global human rights governance, China stands for safeguarding human rights with security, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, calling on all countries to follow the path of peaceful development, and putting into action the Global Security Initiative, Xi noted in the letter.

China advocates for promoting human rights with development, putting into action the Global Development Initiative, and ensuring fair entitlement to human rights by people of all countries through modernization paths with their own characteristics, Xi said.

China stands for advancing human rights with cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect and equality, putting into action the Global Civilization Initiative, and deepening exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, he added.

Putting the people above all else, China has pursued a human rights development path that follows the trend of the times and suits its national conditions, strengthening human rights protection in the course of advancing Chinese modernization, Xi stressed.

China is ready to work with the rest of the world to act on the principles enshrined in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, push for greater fairness, justice, reason, and inclusiveness in global human rights governance, and promote the development of a human community with a shared future, he said.

Jointly hosted by the Information Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China International Development Cooperation Agency, the forum is themed "Equality, Cooperation and Development: The 30th Anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and Global Human Rights Governance." It opened in Beijing on Wednesday.