China's excellent performance in organizing the Paralympics and promoting sports for the disabled will inspire France to work for better integration of disabled people into society, officials with the French delegation said yesterday.

"Just 1 percent of disabled people in France participate in sports, whereas the rate is 23 percent in China," French Secretary of State for Sport Bernard Laporte said at a press conference in Beijing.

"We want to catch up with China."

The performances by the Paralympians have been "outstanding" and China has done a "universally recognized" excellent job in terms of organization and media coverage, he said.

"I'm very happy to see the front pages of Chinese media are all about the Olympics and Paralympics, which is a testament to its people," he said.

Also at the press conference, French Secretary of State for Solidarity Valerie Letard said France wants to share experiences with China on improving the way it cares for its disabled citizens.

"In my meetings with officials from the Chinese civil affairs ministry, I felt the government attaches great importance to the issue of the disabled and tremendous efforts have been made to help them," he said.

"I think there are many experiences China and France can share and learn from."

Although the French government has spent a lot on healthcare services for the disabled and pays them a 650 euro ($920) monthly allowance, the area of sport has been overlooked for a long time, Letard said. In 2005, however, the government launched a scheme to promote sports for the disabled in schools and has also set up a number of clubs to help disabled children integrate more with their communities, he said.

(China Daily September 10, 2008)