International Exchanges People International Day of the Deaf: Chinese tech firms use advanced technology to help the hearing-impaired

This Sunday marks the International Day of the Deaf, aiming to defend deaf people's rights and raise awareness of the hearing-impaired. In China, there are almost 30 million hearing-impaired people, domestic technology companies are stepping in to help those in need. CGTN's Xu Hua reports.

In south China's Guangdong Province, this 86-year-old woman, Deng Shimei, is well known for her passion for life and the Yao minority folks.

But as she has got older, she struggles to hear conversations with her family and even her own singing.

DENG SHIMEI Resident, Yao Ethnic Village, Guangdong Province "I am old now, I can't hear clearly when they speak softly, sometimes cannot hear anything at all."

Deng suffered from loneliness and depression as she has been unable to distinguish sounds for years.

However, that has changed after she received a free hearing-aid from a charity foundation.

DENG SHIMEI Resident, Yao Ethnic Village, Guangdong Province "I remember they put in the hearing-aid at the Village Committee on September 14. They gave it to me for free. They paid a lot of attention to me, they are good to me. "

China is home to 30 million people with hearing problems, and nearly half of them are the elderly. Many hearing-impaired people want to continue to connect with the world, but are usually discouraged by high price of hearing-aids. In response to such demands, technology companies have made attempts to fulfill their social responsibilities.

XIAO WEI Principal Researcher, Tencent Ethereal Audio Lab "The hearing aid we provide for hearing-impaired elderly people like Deng Shimei has been included in the 2022 Catalogue of Products for the Elderly by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Our fully self-developed core algorithmic solutions have improved the key performance indicators of hearing aids by 85 percent."

Leading tech company, Tencent, has made its audio AI technology free for developers, manufacturers and partners in the field, and provided hearing-aids for 500 elderly people, like Deng Shimei, in Shaoguan City.

GUO KAITIAN Chairman of Tencent Charity Foundation "Tencent hopes to make full use of its technological and commercial capabilities to work closely with the government and all sectors to address social problems. We hope that people from all walks of life who are willing to participate can join us to benefit more people with the development of technology. "

XU HUA Shenzhen "China aims to have basic systems providing multi-level support for the disabled, who will gain better access to basic public services and equal rights in various aspects, by 2025. To that end, accessible technology is expected to play a bigger role to make things possible for the group. Xu Hua, CGTN, Shenzhen."