Gold medal haul shows strength of Party's role

The central authorities will step up efforts in the next five years to help disabled people find jobs and receive education and housing benefits.

Cheng Kai, vice-president of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, told a news conference in Beijing on Sunday that the nation achieved great progress in protecting the rights of the disabled during the last five-year plan, from 2016-20, with the group now happier and more secure thanks, in part, to the nation's poverty-alleviation campaign.

"By the end of 2020, about 7.1 million formerly impoverished disabled people had shaken off extreme poverty, and over 1.8 million disabled people had found new jobs in urban areas," Cheng said.

"At the just finished Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games, our delegation achieved outstanding grades with 96 gold medals, showing the world their positive and persevering spirits," Cheng said. "Their achievements are also a result of the government's efforts in securing equal rights for the disabled, which shows the advantages of the leadership of the Communist Party of China and socialism."

Data from the federation shows that China has over 85 million people with disabilities.

Yun Donglai, deputy director of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security's employment promotion department, told the news conference that helping the disabled find jobs is a key way to help them increase incomes, play a more active role in society and realize their dreams.

"We've channeled great resources to assist the group in the job market, whether landing a job or starting their own businesses, as they are one of the key groups in the nation's employment campaign," he said. "Last year, 380,000 disabled people found new jobs."

He said the ministry will continue to support the group by providing more preferential policies, skills training courses and services to protect their working rights in the next five years.

"We will enhance supervision of companies hiring the disabled to urge them to provide a good working environment and to protect labor rights for the group," he said. "Illegal behavior encroaching on the group's rights will be cracked down upon in accordance with the law."

Zhu Dongbin, deputy director of the Ministry of Education's elementary education department, said equal access to quality education is of great importance in improving the livelihoods of the disabled.

"We will improve school infrastructure to help disabled children and train more high-quality teachers for the group," he said.