China strives to promote employment of the disabled
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A job that pays 1,600 yuan (240 U.S. dollars) per month will not satisfy most people in major Chinese cities. But it gives the two things disabled Wang Hua wants: the dignity of independence and food for his family.
Working as a packer at a plant producing copper bars and cables, the 46-year-old man is able to pay the daily expenses of his family and the cost of education for his daughter who studies at a high school in Huangshan City in east China's Anhui Province.
"Not every disabled person is lucky enough to get such a job," says Wang.
Wang lost his right arm in a workplace accident 10 years ago. It was re-attached but he is no longer able to do physical labor.
"It was difficult to find a job after the accident," he says. "I don't want to depend on others. Nor do I want to live off welfare."
Wang is one of 187 disabled people working at the Huangshan Xingle Copper Trade Co., Ltd. The company has 278 employees.
"Our company takes on the social responsibility of helping disabled people. Giving them a job is better than any other kind of help," a company executive who refused to be named told Xinhua.
The company's kindness is not the only reason it hires so many disabled people. In fact, the company is also rewarded by the local government for employing the disabled people.
The Chinese government has formulated and implemented employment policies favorable for disabled people. In China, any employer with one quarter or more of its employees being disabled enjoys tax breaks.
A sum equivalent to the salaries of the disabled employees is deducted when such an employer pays income tax. The employer will also enjoy a reimbursement of a value-added tax equivalent to between three and six times of the salaries of disabled employees.
Chinese companies are required to pay into an employment security fund for the disabled unless they provide 1.5 percent of their jobs to disabled people.
"The more disabled people a company hires, the more tax reimbursements it will get," said Zhang Haichun, an official with the Huangshan municipal disabled persons' federation.
"The policies are a great boost for the employment of people with disabilities," Zhang added.
Disabled people who are self-employed or run a business also get tax breaks and are exempted from a number of administrative fees.
Meanwhile, local governments are told to find jobs for disabled people and to give prior consideration to disabled people when developing the community service sector.
The government of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province said last month it will provide 8,600 new jobs to disabled people by the end of March.
In northwest China's Gansu Province, 150,000 disable people have received vocational training over the past five years, and half of them succeeded in finding a job.
A total of 3,043 employment service agencies have been set up at the provincial, municipal and county levels to provide special employment services to the disabled, according to a government white paper on China's human resources issued in September.
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