China pledges to promote well-being of disabled people

BEIJING -- The Chinese central government has issued a new document aiming to promote the well-being of the country's 85 million disabled people.

Issued by the State Council, the document was published on the government website, www.gov.cn, on Thursday.

It said China will take measures to better their livelihoods and employment opportunities while ensuring public services for disabled people to allow them a prosperous life at the earliest date.

It pledged to better social assistance, allowance, pension and basic medicare insurance programs for the disabled and help both the individual and their families in employment to increase their income.

The document urged to reinforcement of services for disability prevention and rehabilitation. The government will formulate an action plan to prevent disabilities and improve its basic public health services to control the incidence or development of disabilities caused by genetic factors, diseases, accidental injuries and environment, the document said.

The government will work to promote education among the handicapped and make special education available for disabled preschoolers, it noted.

It said construction of public infrastructure will be intensified to provide rehabilitation and services for the disabled. Public libraries should be encouraged to set up reading rooms equipped with braille books or audio devices for visually impaired people.

The government will further advance the construction of barrier-free facilities at public venues such as government institutions, schools, community centers and public transport. Construction of such facilities in rural areas will also be expanded, according to the document.

It noted that social charities and volunteers should also be encouraged to take part in helping the disabled people, urging development of industries of services for this group.

China has about 85 million disabled people, with 12.3 million of them living below the poverty line in rural areas while 2.6 million of them are urbanites classified as having "life difficulties."