BEIJING - China and the United States on Wednesday held a dialogue on human rights issue in Kunming, capital city of southwest China's Yunnan province, according to a Foreign Ministry press release on Friday evening.

The Chinese delegation is headed by a Foreign Ministry official and the US delegation is led by a State Department official.

The two sides conducted frank, in-depth, comprehensive and constructive discussions on the protection of human rights and national concerns, international cooperation in human rights, justice and human rights, freedom of expression and privacy rights protection, according to the press release.

The Chinese side introduced the country's achievements in democracy and the rule of law, improvement of people's livelihood, protection of minority rights, promotion of the coordinated development of civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, it said.

The US side fully affirmed China's progress in promoting economic and social development and poverty alleviation, the press release said.

The Chinese side said that the dialogue on human rights is meaningful for building a new type of relationship between major powers, calling on the two sides to effectively deal with differences and conduct pragmatic cooperation.

The dialogue should be guided by mutual respect, equality, mutual non-interference in internal affairs, according to the Chinese side.

China's human rights situation is in the best period in history and China is a country ruled by law, the Chinese side stressed, urging the US side to respect China's judicial sovereignty and stop bothering China on some isolated cases.

The Chinese side raised the issues of racial discrimination, lack of protection of indigenous rights, the use of torture against terrorism, poor prison conditions and other issues within the United States, according to the press release.

Besides the talks, the US delegation on Tuesday visited a minority village, a women's prison, a mosque and a temple in Yunnan, and visited on Thursday the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Supreme People's Court and the State Bureau of Religious Affairs in Beijing, said the press release.