China is giving priority to employment with measures to sustain the steady growth in jobs. And, because people with disabilities often struggle to find work, a slew of new programs have been introduced to support them.

If you walk into a new cafe on Chengshan Road in Shanghai, Yang is the person welcoming you at the door. Yang and his colleagues each have conditions such as Down's Syndrome, cerebral palsy or autism. Yang can rap, paint, and he's also very acute to numbers. Every day he records the number of customers they serve on a blackboard. 

In a supermarket converging online and offline grocery shopping, Tong Rujuan is running around picking items for their online orders. From fruits and vegetables, to ready meals, and pre-packaged food, her job is to grab everything in two minutes and quickly hang them on the delivery belt. She says this new occupation creates opportunities for those with serious hearing problems like hers.

China launched a quota system in 2007 that required employers to reserve at least 1.5 percent of their jobs for the disabled. However, according to a recent report, today less than 10 million people with disabilities from an estimated population of 85 million are employed.

Hu Yanping, who is in charge of a rehabilitation center in northern Jilin Province, said it's important to establish employment programs for people with disabilities. She thinks they can only live with dignity when there is a place for them to realize their value. She advocates for society to take action to provide them with more job opportunities. 

Great strides have been taken in efforts to integrate those with disabilities, but a lot still needs to be done before they are accepted as active contributors to society.