China seeks US experts to upgrade rehabilitation services

China wants to enlist US expertise to upgrade the quality of its rehabilitation services targeting the disabled population, according to an official from the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Hu Xiangyang, director of the federation's Rehabilitation Department, said on Tuesday Sino-US cooperation over rehabilitation so far has been abundant and is on "different levels", such as in exchange programs with some of the top US academic institutions and rehabilitation centers.

But since many Chinese rehabilitation centers have just started, "they are expecting more training opportunities from US partners," he said, adding that the US has rich education resources in terms of rehabilitation service.

Hu made the remark at the fourth China-US Coordination Meeting on Disability in Beijing. The first of such meetings was held in 2015 in an effort to boost exchanges and collaboration between the two countries on the disabled's welfare.

East China's Shandong province decided in March to build a university featuring majors in rehabilitation. Hu said China wishes to enlist the US' expertise in the training of rehabilitative professionals, which could contribute much to China's development in the sector.

The director also noted the Chinese government could learn from its US counterpart in terms of planning and management of rehabilitation organizations.

Peter Thomas, a legal expert on US disability and rehabilitation law who also attended the meeting, said rehabilitation is fundamental to the employment of the disabled and their return to society.

"You cannot return to work, do sports or reengage in your community unless the rehabilitation efforts make you as functional and independent as you can possibly be," he said.

Statistics from the federation show China is home to more than 85 million disabled people. By the end of 2017, 9.4 million out of some 17 million working age people who are disabled have been employed, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.