China is to launch the second national sample survey on disabled people from April 1 to May 31 this year, the Disabled Persons' Federation announced on Thursday.

As from April 1, 70,000 investigators will pay door-to-door visits to households in sample areas, which are selected at random.

The survey will cover 734 county-level administrative areas and 5,980 communities with 2.6 million people. It aims at providing efficient materials for the authorities to calculate the numbers of the disabled population across the country.

Over the past year, 737 specialists in the fields of population study, statistics, sociology, medical science and rehabilitation have been trained for accomplishing the sample survey.

Pilot surveys have been carried out on a small scale to check the reliability of the move.

The government decided to launch the second national survey on disabled population as early as 2004. Deng Pufang, Chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, was appointed head of a group in charge of the sample survey.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2006)