Plan to increase aid to disabled in Asia, Europe mooted

A high-level meeting on disability cooperation among Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) members in Beijing saw delegates propose an initiative to enhance disability cooperation.

Under the theme of "Break Barriers for Inclusive Development", delegates had extensive, in-depth and fruitful discussions.

"We noted that the world has an estimated one billion people with disabilities, more than half live in ASEM member countries. Disability is an issue related to social development, human rights and economic growth that has to be tackled by ASEM members," the proposal said.

It added that ASEM provides an inter-governmental platform for dialogue and cooperation, and performs an important function in promoting Asian-European countries to carry out mutual-benefit cooperation in many fields.

The meeting, which ended on Friday, was part of the ASEM Disability Cooperation Event organized by China Disabled Persons' Federation with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union.

Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended Thursday's session.

A Global Conference on Assistive Devices & Technology was held in conjuction with the meeting, aiming to promote assistive devices as the entry point for cooperation.