The National Day of Assisting the Disabled

The National Day of Assisting the Disabled is a day for raising awareness about the difficulties people with handicaps face and promoting laws protecting disabled persons. More than 80 million people in China have a disability. The National People’s Congress established the holiday in 1991 to fall on the third Sunday in May every year. Many organizations use the holiday to fight for the legal rights of the disabled and express their care through fundraising performances.

This year, the holiday fell on May 15, and the central government vowed to offer tax benefits for employers who hire a certain number of disabled employees. The policy aims to offer 1 million more jobs for the disabled over the next five years. China had 4.4 million disabled people working in cities and towns, and 17.5 million working in villages as of 2010.

Disabled people are also encouraged to establish their own businesses, the most popular of which are blind massage parlors. The country also has set up 15,000 rehabilitation centers, 1,700 special schools and 4,700 special occupational schools for them. From 2005 to 2010, 10.37 million handicapped citizens received rehabilitation services and more than 35,000 students with disabilities were enrolled in colleges or universities.