China's Henan province takes measures to create jobs, provide training for disabled people

The Chinese government has been working to improve the living conditions of people with disabilities. In central China's Henan Province, local authorities are stepping up efforts to create more job opportunities by providing education and training.

26-year-old Fu Hui lost part of her hearing due to medicine misuse when she was four years old. As a disabled person, she thought she might not be able to live on her own. But luckily, she got admitted to college in Zhengzhou, in central China's Henan Province, and found a job soon after graduation.

She's been repairing luxury goods for four years now. And she is not the only worker with disabilities in this small company. Fu says she and her other two hearing-impaired colleagues have never been treated differently in the company. They have the same salary and benefits as the others. And thanks to technology, it's not hard for them to communicate with each other.

SHAO CHAOLEI, Manager, Grace Luxury Repair CO., Ltd. "I will definitely recruit more disabled people in the future. I think it's my responsibility. And disabled people are more focused and patient, which is what my company needs the most."

There're around 520,000 disabled people in Zhengzhou. It's still quite difficult for them to find work. And most of the jobs they find don't pay well and require little expertise. So, the local authority is offering them free training.

Feng Wanpeng was one of the lucky ones who got the chance to take part in one of these courses. Six years ago, he found out about a free training program in traditional art and decided to give it a try.

FENG WANPENG, Manager, Henan Jinshi Art Gallery "I was deeply impressed by the art, so I learned really fast. After the program was over, the teacher and the local authority asked me to stay and keep learning. I became an assistant teacher later."

Now, Feng has become an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage on rubbing art. The local authority helped build a small workshop for him. His artworks are now sold nationwide. In order to help more disabled people, Feng started to teach his skills to others like him to inspire them.

LIU ZUOLIN, Director of Employment Department, Zhengzhou Disabled Persons' Federation "We hold big job fairs particularly for disabled people every year. We try to encourage leading companies to recruit more disabled workers."

Official figures show that about 1.8 million people with disabilities found jobs between 2016 and 2020. It means both the amount and quality of jobs for people with disabilities have improved. The latest policy announced by the State Council in April said the government aims to create 1 million jobs for the disabled from 2022 to 2024.

XIA RUIXUE Zhengzhou "Employment remains a challenge for people with disabilities in China. The government says it's trying to address this by providing more opportunities for jobs and education. Xia Ruixue, CGTN, Zhengzhou, Henan Province."