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Chart of the day: How China protects the rights of its disabled
CGTN

The 11th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 8th National Special Olympics Games will officially end on October 29 in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. A total of 4,484 athletes participated in the Games that featured 43 sports and 47 events over the past week.

Looking back at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the Chinese team won 96 gold, 60 silver and 51 bronze medals, ranking top both in gold and total medals counts for the fifth consecutive Paralympics. The team also set 29 new world records.

Behind the athletes' outstanding performance are the comprehensive rights people with disabilities are guaranteed, with access to social security, education, career development, and an enabling environment.

China has established a subsidy system to provide for the living expenses of disabled people in need and pay the nursing costs of people with severe disabilities. By 2020, the system had benefited more than 12 million impoverished disabled people and nearly 15 million with severe disabilities. Some 27 million people were covered in old-age insurance schemes in urban and rural areas, and around 11 million people with disabilities received urban or rural subsistence allowances. In 2020, 10.8 million disabled children and people with certified disabilities received basic rehabilitation services, and 2.4 million people with disabilities benefited from adaption services for assistive devices. 

People with disabilities have an equal right to an education guaranteed through special education and inclusive education. In 2020, there were 2,244 special education schools with 66,200 full-time teachers and 880,800 students, an increase of 512,700 students or 139 percent from 2013. Continued efforts have also been made to provide support to enable students with disabilities to go to regular schools. Over the past decade, about 50 percent of students with disabilities have been able to study at regular schools. 

China promotes the employment of people with disabilities by improving the relevant laws and regulations, expanding employment channels, and improving services. The number of employed people with certified disabilities reached 8.6 million in 2020.

The Regulations on the Building of an Accessible Environment are in effect. Besides public facilities upgrading for accessibility, between 2016 and 2020, home adaptation was carried out for 650,000 poor families with severely disabled members. As of 2019, there were 2,341 comprehensive service facilities, 1,006 rehabilitation facilities, and 887 care facilities for people with disabilities.

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