Guided by accelerating achievement of prosperity for people with disabilities and improving cultural and sports services for them during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), China has strengthened service innovation at grassroots levels for people with disabilities, expanded their international cultural exchanges, and provided them with high-quality and diversified cultural experiences.

Improved public cultural services at the grassroots level

On Dec 22, 2020, 63-year-old contestant Yu Fujun and his twin daughters recited"Beautiful China" in the finals of the 2020 Chongqing reading activity for people with disabilities. A special"barrier-free movie" show is held In Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, with professional commentators narrating movies for audiences with visual impairments. [Photo/chinadp.net.cn] 

Just like the reading activity, there were many activities for people with disabilities at the grassroots level during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Such cultural activities not only enriched their cultural lives but also improved the public cultural services of the disabled persons' federations nationwide. 

The China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), together with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Press and Publication Administration, has issued guidelines on promoting reading activities for people with disabilities and providing them with nearby county level cultural services in all regions.  

In addition, supported by the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the CDPF has carried out digital reading projects for people with visual impairment, actively participated in the protection of the national intangible cultural heritage, and guided people with disabilities to take part in the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural legacies. 

The horsetail-shaped embroidery of Sandu Shui Autonomous County in Guizhou province was listed among the first of China's intangible cultural heritages. Some local embroiderers with disabilities can use their skills to support their families. Mastering the traditional technique of embroidery has become a way for more and more poor families to get rid of poverty. While passing on the embroidery heritage, their lives have also been improved. [Photo/chinadp.net.cn] 

During the 13th Five-Year Plan, the CDPF has incorporated cultural service for people with disabilities into the national public cultural service system, and published a series of themed books. And for the National Day for Assisting Disabled Persons in 2020, the CDPF published a series of books on the theme of poverty alleviation and helping people with disabilities, released a theme song, and contributed its share of strength in helping people with disabilities fight against poverty.  

During the COVID-19 epidemic, the CDPF mobilized and organized writers and artists with disabilities to write poetry and create other literary works and supported the China Commission of Promotion of Publicity for the Undertakings of Chinese Disabled Persons and the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe in writing anti-pandemic songs. 

Meanwhile, the CDPF has steadily promoting cultural services for people with disabilities at the grassroots level, supporting the development of cultural and creative industries for them, and increased their income by nurturing entrepreneurship and creating more employment opportunities.  

From 2016 to 2020, a group of cultural entrepreneurship and employment agencies with local characteristics and development potential were selected to carry out employment training for people with disabilities, and more than 170 related national cultural and creative industry bases were established.  

Twenty-eight promotional projects supporting talented people with disabilities and 15 bases for craftsmen with disabilities were established, which promoted the development of a cultural and creative industry for that group and provided them with more employment opportunities. 

The CDPF has kept increasing support for the building of braille and audio reading rooms for people with visual impairments in public libraries.  

As of the end of 2019, the number of reading rooms for people with visual impairments in public libraries at the provincial, city and county levels had reached 1,174, and the seats for them in public libraries across the country reached 24,000. More than 1 million braille books and 16 million audio-visual digital books are now included in public libraries. 

Since September 2017, the CDPF, together with four other government departments, jointly promoted the digital reading project for people with disabilities, equipped200,000 smart listening devices for them and helped 404 public libraries purchase 196,600 devices.  

Up to now, 83,763 devices in 333 libraries have been activated, with a total of 4.3 million online usages. The project has played a positive role in promoting the sharing of the civilization achievements in the new era, improving people's quality of life, raising the knowledge level and helping the special groups adapt to social development with dignity.  

The CDPF has further lifted cultural services for people with disabilities at the grassroots level by providing them with excellent cultural products that are welcomed and praised by readers with visual impairments at all levels. 

Established cultural brands to expand social influence  

A calligraphy and painting exhibition, themed on securing a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, is held in Beijing on Nov 21, 2020. [Photo/CDPF] 

Since the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the CDPF has innovated its work methods in cultural services for people with disabilities, established cultural brands, expanded the influence of cultural products, and guided the development of cultural causes for people with disabilities across the country through brand activities. 

The CDPF has integrated cultural resources to provide high-quality cultural products and services for people with disabilities.  

A charity performances brand, established by the China Commission of Promotion of Publicity for the Undertakings of Chinese Disabled Persons, has been included in the program of strengthening moral standards by the Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee of the Communist Party Central Committee and received financial support from the China National Arts Fund.  

Nearly 100 performances and exhibitions were held in nearly 70 counties in Chongqing, Jiangxi province and Ningxia Hui autonomous region. In 2020, considering the pandemic prevention and control needs, the charity performances were livestreamed on holidays such as the National Day for Assisting Disabled Persons and Teachers' Day. The China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe presented five charity performances in poverty-stricken areas in Ningxia and Gansu, which were watched by more than 3 million people. 

Since 2015, the CDPF has held a series of calligraphy and painting exhibitions themed on"Renmei". More than 10 special exhibitions have been held in places such as the Imperial Ancestral Shrine and Lama Temple. The CDPF also organized more than 40 tours in over 40 counties (cities)  in such regions as Jiangxi, Gansu, Chongqing, Hong Kong, and Macao. In 2019, the CDPF and the Social Sciences Academic Press (China) launched a journal to provide people with disabilities as well as a platform for literature exchanges and display. 

In addition, the first national training course for writers with disabilities was held in April 2019 to promote literary and artistic creation of people with disabilities. Thirty-seven writers with disabilities from 28 provincial regions and literary celebrities attended the course. It strengthened the team building of literary and artistic talents with disabilities, increased support for their key works, and promoted their creative capacity.  

The ninth national art performance of people with disabilities is held in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, on Aug 16, 2017. [Photo/chinadp.net.cn] 

In 2017, the CDPF, together with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, held the ninth national art performance of people with disabilities. It presented 212 excellent works and programs, and more than 3,000 performers with disabilities took part, attracting over 300,000 audience.  

It showcased a large number of outstanding programs and enriched the cultural life at grassroots level for people with disabilities. The mainstream media paid great attention to the performance, twice broadcasting it on channel CCTV-3 at the end of December of the same year and during the“National Day for Assisting Disabled Persons' in 2018. It generated widespread interest from the whole society. 

Supported by the CDPF, the Liaoning Disabled Persons' Federation, and the China Commission of Promotion of Publicity for the Undertakings of Chinese Disabled Persons, the Fuxin Disabled Persons' Federation issue a periodical presenting the cultural life of people with disabilities.[Photo/chinadp.net.cn] 

Apart from that, the CDPF supported a series of cultural activities such as a poetry competition for people with disabilities, a recitation competition and an exhibition of calligraphy by people with hearing impairments. It presented cultural activities as gifts to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. 

Actively carried out international cultural exchanges and cooperation to promote image of people with disabilities 

The China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe is a shining image for the cause of people with disabilities in China. The CDPF has actively organized it to carry out performances to show the world China's achievements in the cause of people with disabilities and the development of special arts for them.  

In recent years, the troupe has visited nearly 10 countries and regions every year and given 20 to 30 performances. As of January 2021, it has traveled to 103 countries and regions around the world, promoting cultural and artistic exchanges between people with disabilities in China and throughout the international community. 

The CDPF has contributed to cooperation in the field of people with disabilities under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, and held a special art forum in 2019 for people with disabilities under that framework.  

In 2017, the CDPF and Bauhinia magazine, in Hong Kong, jointly hosted the first national invitational exhibition of calligraphers and artists with disabilities, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. 

In 2019 in Macao, the CDPF and the Macao Foundation jointly hosted the national invitational exhibition for outstanding artists with disabilities, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland. 

The two events celebrated the returns of Hong Kong and Macao to the motherland in the form of art, meanwhile, they demonstrated the self-improvement and optimistic spirit of people with disabilities, and promoted exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao while spreading positive social energy. 

During the 8th Biennale Hors Normes (BHN) in Lyon, France, the CDPF supported an exhibition of Chinese art works created by people with disabilities held by Disability in China magazine. In addition, the CDPF supported Huaxia Culture Group’s holding of a 2019 international art exhibition for people with disabilities from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, which promoted international exchange of culture and art. 

The CDPF supports Disability in China magazine's exhibition of Chinese art works by people with disabilities in Lyon, France, during the 8th Biennale Hors Normes (BHN). [Photo/chinadp.net.cn] 

According to survey statistics, the participation rate of people with disabilities in cultural and sports activities rose from less than 8 percent in 2015 to 17.8 percent today, an average annual increase of 3 percentage points. It means that the number of people with disabilities participating in cultural activities increases by approximately 700,000 people each year. 

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, top-level design for cultural service for people with disabilities was strengthened, and grassroots services and international exchanges and cooperation for people with disabilities made new progress, leading to more diversified and outstanding cultural services.