China to expand employing the disabled

BEIJING -- At least one disabled person should be employed in China's provincial-level Party or government organs and municipal working committees for the disabled by 2020, according to an official statement.

Those bodies are asked to offer more preference to help the disabled get employment and ensure their rights to apply for the civil service, according to the statement posted Thursday on the website of China's Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF).

At least 15 percent of disabled people should be employed in provincial-level disabled persons' federations, according to the statement.

The statement was jointly issued by seven departments including the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the Ministry of Finance and the CDPF.

China has more than 85 million disabled people. The number is expected to exceed 160 million by 2050, according to the federation.

China's National Human Rights Action Plan (2012-2015) provides that the country will stabilize and expand employment for the disabled.