China extends poverty relief, social security for disabled: report

BEIJING - China has taken various measures to promote poverty alleviation and social security for the disabled, according to a report published by the Social Sciences Academic Press.

Report on the cause for persons with disabilities in China (2018) said that in 2017, a total of 706,000 disabled people received skill training, and 105,000 were hired at 6,692 special poverty-relief bases.

A total of 1 billion yuan (144 million US dollars) was used to renovate dilapidated houses for the disabled striken by poverty in rural areas, benefiting 82,000 households, it said.

Noting that subsidies for living allowances for disabled people in need and subsidies to cover the care and treatment for the severely disabled had been extended to cover all county-level regions, the report said over 20 million people received such subsidies in 2017, up 39.5 percent from a year earlier.

More than 26 million people with disabilities in both urban and rural areas have participated in social endowment insurance schemes, and 231,000 workers from 7,923 foster institutions can provide services for the disabled, according to the report.

Basic public services for the disabled have also been improved, with more than 8.5 million people with disabilities receiving rehabilitation services in 2017.