E/C.12/1/Add.107 page 2 I. CHINA B. Positive aspects 4. The Committee welcomes the promulgation by the State Council of Rules on Supervision of Labour Security and its amended Regulations on Collective Contracts and Regulations on Minimum Wages. 5. The Committee welcomes the increase, in 2004, of basic retirement benefits for retirees of State-owned enterprises throughout the country. 6. The Committee welcomes the establishment of a new social security system based on contributions from employers and employees and of a new pension system in which employers and employees contribute to a communal pension fund and to individual pension accounts. 7. The Committee welcomes the adoption of the China Rural Communities Poverty Relief Programme (2001-2010). 8. The Committee welcomes the State Council’s Directive No. 1/2004 to safeguard farmers’ rights and interests and Directive No. 1/2005, waiving taxes on animal husbandry for all regions and agricultural tax for 592 counties listed as priority counties for poverty alleviation. 9. The Committee notes with appreciation the measures adopted by the State party for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, including the establishment of the National Committee on HIV/AIDS as part of the Directive on Effective Strengthening of the Prevention and Treatment of AIDS. 10. The Committee welcomes the adoption of the Framework for Education Development into 2020, a strategic plan for the reform and development of the education sector in the State party. C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant 11. The Committee, while recognizing the sizeable population in the vast expanse of the territory of the State party, notes that there are no significant factors and difficulties impeding its capacity to effectively implement the Covenant. D. Principal subjects of concern 12. The Committee regrets that the State party’s report was not disseminated prior to submission and therefore did not go through a public consultation process. 13. The Committee regrets that the lack of comparative statistical data in the field of economic, social and cultural rights within the State party has not allowed a clear evaluation of the degree of the actual implementation of many of the rights enshrined in the Covenant. 14. The Committee is concerned that non-citizens, including asylum-seekers, refugees and stateless persons, are excluded from the constitutional guarantees to the enjoyment of rights and freedoms enshrined in the Covenant extended to all citizens in the State party. The Committee