BEIJING - A Chinese human rights expert on Thursday said that people should be given more access to information, saying that "the right to know" is one of the fundamental human rights.

"The right to know and access to information is to some extent the prime human right in the information age," said Professor Zhao Zhengqun from the prestigious Nankai University on the sidelines of the fourth Beijing Forum on Human Rights that opened Wednesday.

Zhao, an active participant of the China-EU human rights talks, said China has made significant progress in expanding the public's access to government information.

China adopted the Decree of Government Information Openness in 2007, which became effective one year later in 2008, making government operations more transparent. In the National Human Rights Action Plan made in 2009, the right to know has also been put forward as one of the basic human rights.

Zhao called for more public awareness on the right to know, saying that it will facilitate the building of a more transparent government and prevent irrational development.

With the theme of cultural traditions, values, and human rights, the two-day event was attended by around 100 human rights experts and officials from 26 countries and regions and international organizations.