July 1, 2021 -- The state of protecting the rights of the disabled in China has been improving over the past decades, covering legal protection, education and employment, experts said during a human rights seminar on Tuesday.

 

The seminar was a parallel event for the 47th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held online from Wuhan, central China, with the theme "Legal Development and Disability Rights."

 

According to official statistics, more than 12 million people with disabilities in China have received living allowances and over 14 million severely disabled people have received care subsidies as of 2020.

 

Meanwhile, disabled students with financial difficulties across the country are eligible to enjoy 12 years of free education, or 15 years in some provinces, as of 2020.

 

"These advances have helped to get more than 80 million disabled people out of poverty, enjoy moderately prosperous lives and withstand the test of the COVID-19 epidemic," said Feng Guo, head of the School of Law at Wuhan University.

 

"The advances also offered an effective solution for building a community with a shared future for mankind and realizing integrated development of people with disabilities," said Feng.

 

For legal development, China has already published more than 90 laws and over 50 administrative regulations on the protection of the rights and interests of the disabled, according to a white paper released by the State Council Information Office last week.

 

"China's judicial system has made progress in terms of equal protection for disabled people," said Chen Bo, an assistant professor of the School of Law at Macao University of Science and Technology.

 

"However, the legal standard for discrimination against people with disabilities still needs to be improved," Chen added.

 

Experts participating the seminar pointed out that the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities will continue to be an integral part of the socialist rule of law in China.