China Helps Disabled Find JobsOf China's 60 million disabled people, 75 percent have obtained jobs, and the Chinese government pledges to raise their employment rate to 85 percent in five years, sources in Lanzhou said.The central authorities has formulated a number of laws and regulations to protect the rights of the disabled. Some 5,000 employment centers have been set up across the country to improve their living standards, said Wang Chenjing, an official with the China Association for the Handicapped. As the nation's unemployment rate has continued to grow in recent years, disabled people have faced their own challenges. To encourage them to start their own businesses, the Chinese government has offered tax holidays. Tan Ping, a disabled woman in Dingxi County in northwest China' s Gansu Province, started her own fruit-selling business, which has become so profitable she can now live comfortably on her earnings. Statistics show there are 1.2 million self-employed disabled people in the country, 12 times the number a decade ago. Li Baohu in Zhengning County is another example. The local government gave the disabled youth 1,000 yuan to open a private clinic when he graduated from a medical school. His business has been successful, and now he lives an independent life. Moreover, many organizations have been set up to offer employment information, vocational training and insurance services for disabled people. |
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