China calls for more efforts to lift all disabled out of poverty

BEIJING - No disabled people should be left behind in the national poverty fight, the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) announced Thursday in Beijing.

About 5 million disabled people have shaken off poverty in the last five years, Guo Liqun, a publicity official with the CDPF, said at a press conference.

In 2017 alone, about 925,000 disabled people were lifted out of poverty, Guo said, adding that 9.42 million disabled people are employed as of the end of 2017.

Xie Hongde, poverty relief official with the CDPF, said there are still 2.81 million disable people living in poverty. Xie said the federation would provide more targeted help, including improving recovery services, helping poor disabled children to continue education, and offering care services for severely disabled people in poverty.

China has set 2020 as the target year to complete the building of a moderately prosperous society, which requires the eradication of poverty.

The country's poverty rate has dropped from 10.2 percent in 2012 to 3.1 percent in 2017 after 68.53 million people were lifted out of poverty over the past five years.

The country still had around 30 million people living below the national poverty line at the end of last year.