Disabled people who run businesses will get to enjoy favorable tax policies and be exempted from administrative charges, under a latest draft law amendment.

The draft amendment to the Law on Protection of Disabled Persons, submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee for second reading Tuesday before it can be passed, makes it clear that the disabled do not have to pay government administrative fees if they operate private businesses.

Zhang Bolin, deputy director of the NPC's Law Committee, said the newly added stipulation aims to "better protect the disabled and encourage them to be self-employed".

The latest draft also stipulates that no one can force the disabled into labor through violent means or depriving them of their personal freedom. Such employers who fail to comply will face legal punishment.

"Such a stipulation has been suggested because forced labor of the disabled does exist in some places in the country," Zhang said. "We believe such a rule can better protect the disabled from such abuse."

In one slavery scandal that sparked nationwide outrage last summer, hundreds of migrants were freed from brick kilns in Shanxi Province, many of whom were disabled. Nine out of the 31 people freed from a kiln in Hongtong County alone were mentally disabled.

The draft also aims to create a barrier-free environment for the disabled. One stipulation requires all new building projects to follow national obstacle-free standards. It states that old constructions should also be upgraded gradually to meet the standards.

The standards, introduced in 2001, give detailed requirements for building obstacle-free facilities, but they are not yet part of any law.

The country has about 83 million disabled people, or 6.34 percent of the total population, figures from the China Disabled Persons' Federation showed.

"A national survey shows that 49.8 percent of the disabled above the age of 18 face medium-level or serious obstacles in social participation," the federation said in a document submitted to the lawmakers. "It's still an arduous task to make society obstacle-free for them," it said.

The draft amendment also grants the disabled more say in society and have them share the fruits of the country's economic growth.

For example, it states that the voice of the physically challenged must be heard when laws, regulations and policies on them are made.

Also, the draft makes it mandatory for governments at all levels to offer the disabled better education, rehabilitation and living standards, and provide them with more jobs.

(China Daily April 23, 2008)