New treaty helps visually impaired to access books

China's effective implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty marks the country's continual efforts to ensure visually impaired people have equal rights to knowledge and education, experts said on Friday.

The Marrakesh Treaty allows copyright exceptions to let visually impaired people get access to copyrighted books and other works.

Zhang Jianchun, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said at a meeting on Friday in Beijing that the treaty implementation demonstrates the Party's philosophy of always putting people first.

He said the Party has put focus on letting vulnerable groups get fair access to and share Chinese culture and civilization. Implementing the treaty in China shows the nation's active involvement in the welfare and facilitation of disabled people, and its efforts to strengthen a global community with a shared future.

He said the nation will continue to improve the mechanism and supervision of the treaty's implementation, and the systematic establishment of the world's copyrights management for disabled people. These actions aim to facilitate the group's access to knowledge and services and help them to enjoy the benefits of comprehensive development and common prosperity.

Zhou Changkui, president of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, said at the meeting that the treaty's implementation is good news for the nation's over 17 million visually impaired people.

He said the federation will keep enriching the supply of cultural products to disabled people to meet their spiritual needs and improve their sense of happiness and security.

The Marrakesh Treaty is applicable to literature and artworks in the form of text, symbols and graphics. The visually impaired people, including people with reading disorders, and those who cannot hold or flip a book due to other disabilities can use the works in Braille－a system of printing for blind people－and bigger word sizes or audio versions under the treaty.

The Marrakesh Treaty is the world's only human rights treaty on copyrights. It took effect in China on May 5.