Hu Kaihong (host):

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to today’s policy briefing of the State Council. The executive meeting of the State Council on Sept 16 discussed and approved relevant policies concerning providing subsidies for people with disabilities. In order to help the public to be better informed, I’m honored to have Zou Ming, vice-minister of Civil Affairs and Cheng Kai, vice-president of the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, to brief you on the policies and answer your questions. Vice-Minister Zou, please.

Zou Ming:

Friends from the press, good morning. I’m glad to be here today and talk about the mechanisms of providing subsidies for people with disabilities who live in poverty or suffer from severe disability. On the morning of Sept 16, the guideline on this mechanism was approved by the executive meeting of the State Council, and will soon be implemented. Today, I’d like to take the opportunity to brief you on the guideline.

Zou Ming:

At present, China has 85 million people who suffer disabilities. Compared with other people, those with disabilities are at a disadvantage in regards earning income through their work. Moreover, they have to pay extra money for receiving care and other expenditures. Therefore, these households are faced with difficulties in everyday requirements and getting long-term care. The approval of the mechanisms is a major step in meeting their demands. President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and other leaders have attached great importance to work concerned with those suffering disabilities, and have issued many instructions on improving their living standards.

Zou Ming:

In the new era, especially since the implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan, related departments including the Civil Affairs and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, have carried out pilot programs on the subsidy mechanisms, and significant results have been achieved. Right now, 20 provinces have set up mechanisms for providing subsidies for people with disabilities who live in poverty; 20 provinces have established mechanisms for providing subsidies for those who suffer severe disability and 13 provinces have set up both mechanisms.

The guideline, with a focus on the extra spending required for people with disabilities for everyday requirements and long-term care, aims to help establish the two mechanisms across the country. According to the guideline, those who have the minimum living allowances will receive living subsidies, while those who suffer from severe disability will be provided with care subsidies.

Local governments, where conditions permit, are encouraged to expand the coverage of subsidies. Detailed subsidy standards will be decided by local governments, in accordance with their economic situation and the demands of the disabled. The central government will support local governments through increasing general transfer payments.

Zou Ming:

The two kinds of subsidies will be provided upon application. The disabled can submit written applications to the neighborhood offices or town governments. They can also authorize others to make the application on their behalf. Local governments shall receive the two types of applications at the same time and start the review work in a coordinated way. The two kinds of subsidies should also be linked up with other social security mechanisms in the principles of fairness.

The executive meeting of the State Council decided that the two subsidy mechanisms will be implemented across the country from Jan 1, 2016. According to estimated statistics, the mechanisms are expected to benefit 10 million people who live in poverty and the same number of disabled people who suffer severe disability. They will be the first kind of national mechanisms that provide special subsidies to the disabled.

Hu Kaihong:

Now, Vice-President Cheng, please.

Cheng Kai:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the press, good morning. I’m glad to be here, together with Vice-Minister Zou to introduce to you the two kinds of subsidy mechanisms. I’d like to add the following points.

First, the establishment of the two subsidy mechanisms is a major measure for those with disabilities and it will help them to enter a moderately prosperous society. As President Xi Jinping has noted, people with disabilities, as a group with unusual difficulties, should be provided with special care and concern. It is the Party’s work to provide them with a living that can afford life’s necessities. Premier Li Keqiang also has noted that the governments should make more efforts in this regard.

At the beginning of this year, the State Council issued a guideline on accelerating efforts to help people with disabilities enter a moderately prosperous society. The guideline made it clear that such efforts are a necessary requirement for China to become a comprehensively moderately prosperous society, and realize common prosperity and social fairness. The establishment of the two subsidy mechanisms is a substantive step taken by the State Council to meet this goal. Once the mechanisms are set up across China, 20 million people are expected to benefit from them, and the living conditions of 50 million households with people who have disabilities will be improved.

Cheng Kai:

Second, the establishment of the two mechanisms is a milestone as it is the first time that national mechanisms have been set up to offer special benefits to people with disabilities.

Protection and care for vulnerable groups reflects the social and economic development of a country, and its civilization level as well. Some developed countries spent more than one hundred years trying to establish welfare systems targeting people with disabilities in terms of living, education, healthcare, transportation and nursing. After the fast economic development since reform and opening up, China has now entered the more challenging time of developing it into a moderately prosper society. It is the right time to set up welfare systems for the disabled in accordance with the actuarial conditions of China. The mechanisms are not only an important measure to guarantee people’s living conditions and facilitate social fairness, they are also the first time that the government carried out measures and set up social welfare system that targeted those with disabilities. It is a milestone both in terms of China’s social progress and the development of affairs of those with disabilities.

Cheng Kai:

Third, the mechanisms are major beneficial measures that meet the urgent demands of people with disabilities, after national surveys on their situation were conducted.

A household survey was conducted among nearly 30 million registered people with disabilities, to get an understanding of their basic conditions and requirements. The survey covered issues such as their income, housing, recovery, education and employment. The survey results, together with the annual records of people with disabilities, showed that although their conditions have been improved generally, the gap between their conditions and the average level of the whole society was still widening. The per capita disposable income in a household with a person with disabilities is only more than half that of the national average level (statistics in 2013 showed that the figure was only 56.2 percent). However, the per capita medical expenditure for such households in urban and rural areas are respectively, 160 percent and 170 percent of the national average level. The poverty incidence in rural China is nearly 50 percent. Nearly ten million people with disabilities are living on the minimum living allowances. The employment rate for urban and rural disabled people falls short of 50 percent. Moreover, they have to pay higher living expenses on transportation, assistive devices and for nursing. The imbalance of low income and high spending will have a lasting impact on their basic living standards. Statistics show that Engel’s coefficient for households with people suffering disability is 48.5 percent, 12.3 percentage points higher than the average level. The figure reflects the urgent demand for setting up the subsidy mechanisms.

The media have been offering great support and help on this topic, thus becoming an important driving force of progress. I’d like to thank you all on behalf of the 85 million people with disabilities.

China News Service:

You mentioned that the subsidies will benefit 10 million disabled people and 10 million people who suffer from severe disability. Could you tell us the exact number of both groups nationwide? Are the 20 million people above selected from the 30 million who hold certificates for the disabled? And what are the amounts of money the two subsidies can offer?

Cheng Kai:

The China Disabled Persons Federation has a database recording the number of disabled people, which is created by comparing the disabled applying for certificates with the country’s whole population. There are more than 30 million disabled people recorded in the database, within which more than 11 million are regarded as severely disabled people. According to national standards, the disabled are categorized into four levels, with the first and second suffering from severe disabilities.

According to the protection law for the disabled, they can also be categorized in terms of vision, hearing, body, speech, intelligence, mental health and multiple disabilities, with every category covering the first and second levels. However, the demands and living conditions are different in the seven kinds of disabled people, especially ones with mental and intelligence defects, as it’s harder for them to find a job or make money due to their disabilities and lack of social insurance. That’s why subsidies for people with severe disabilities are extended to third or even fourth level in some regions.

According to the State Council’s opinion, a clearer definition is that disabled people who live in poverty refer to those receiving the minimum living allowances. There are clear minimum living standards in different regions, so we could figure out the exact number of qualified people before the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Disabled Persons Federation request subsidies. According to this standard, there are about 10 million disabled people who are living in poverty.

As for the amount of money the subsidies can offer, specific standards are made by local authorities, taking the economic and social development level and the needs of the disabled into account. That is clearly stated in the opinion of the State Council. Have a look at the measures of the 20 more provinces that have implemented the policies: Subsidies for disabled people with financial difficulties are 50 yuan ($7.86) per month, and for disabled people with severe disabilities are 100 yuan per month, with the highest reaching 300 yuan and the lowest less than 50 yuan.

China Radio International:

What specific measures would Ministry of Civil Affairs take to make sure that the subsidy polices for the disabled would be fully implemented?

Zou Ming:

Thanks for your question. It’s a good question. The polices will be officially issued in the name of the State Council after it was passed at the State Council Executive Meeting.

We will jointly take specific measures with the Ministry of Finance and China Disabled Persons Federation to implement the measures.

First, we will make efforts to advocate and illustrate the policies so that disabled people can get a clear understanding of the requirements and aspects of the subsidy policies.

Second, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will jointly take up implementation with the Ministry of Finance and China Disabled Persons’ Federation regarding budget, standards, regulations, information sharing, and joint review.

Third, we will hold a nationwide video conference within all levels of the nation’s civil affairs and finance departments and disabled persons federations to brief them on the subsidy policies. For provincial regions that have carried out such subsidy measures, they will be required to further implement the policy. For provincial regions that haven’t had the subsidy measures, they will be required to establish the subsidy system in accordance with the circular.

Fourth, the State Council will pay close attention to the implementation of the subsidy polices and specific inspections will be done to monitor progress.

I want to specifically illustrate an issue about how to openly, transparently, and fairly provide the subsidies for disabled people.

From the perspective of institutional design, the subsidy targets are people who suffer from severe disability (first-grade and second-grade) and disabled people who live in families that receive subsistence allowance.

Boundaries between social assistance, social welfare, and social insurance have been clearly set to prevent local governments, especially staffers who are in charge of the subsidies, from subjectively implementing the measures.

From the perspective of operations, we will focus on three points.

First, precision. As mentioned by Mr Cheng, China now has 85 million disabled people, among whom only 30 million have applied and received the disability certification, which have been issued since 2009. So there will be a group of disabled people hoping to apply and receive the disability certification.

Thus, local governments, especially county-level governments, should execute strict and precise evaluations on applications so that disabled people who meet the standards of the policies will get the subsidies.

The subsistence allowance database built by the Ministry of Civil Affairs should have real-time sharing and dynamic management with the database of disabled people set up by the China Disabled Persons Federation.

Second, security of the subsidies. According to the circular, instead of being given out by assigned staffers, the subsidies will be directly transferred by financial institutions to the accounts of disabled people or their guardians

If financial institutions are not able to transfer the money due to infrastructure problems in some rural areas, a strict management system of cash subsidies should be established to prevent unregulated conduct.

Third, disabled people can apply for the subsidies on their own, and departments that are in charge of giving out the subsidies will carry out regular reviews so that the subsidies will be given out only to people who meet the standards.

From the perspective of regulation, as explicitly noted in the circular, the application, review, and receiving process, standards, and objectives should be open to supervision by the public.

At the same time, the Ministry of Civil Affairs will jointly make regular appraisals of the subsidy system, along with the Ministry of Finance, China Disabled Persons Federation and other related departments.

In addition, third-party reviews will also be applied in the implementation of the policies.

Furthermore, we will receive supervision from finance, audit, supervision departments, the public, and, of course, the media to fully implement the subsidy policies for disabled people.

Xinhua News Agency:

My question is for Mr Zou. As of now, there are 27 provinces in the country implementing the systems, with some adopting one of them and others pushing forward both. Is there a timetable to implement both systems across the country?

My second question is: Is the budget generated from the central government or local governments? If it is allocated from local budgets, will there be any extra subsidies? Is there any possibility to raise the subsidies from the current level of 50 and 100 yuan? As they would be just a drop in the bucket.

Zou Ming:

The answers to your questions can be found in the opinion we released before.

The thorough implementation of the system was set for Jan 1, 2016, aimed at giving local governments plenty of time to prepare for it. A total of 27 provinces are undertaking at least one of the subsidy systems, with four others still lacking such programs.

The standard of the subsidies varies in different places, as Vice-President Cheng Kai said, in some provinces, the amount of subsidies for the disabled is as high as 300 yuan, whereas in other provinces, it can be a mere 30 yuan. The situation is similar for the subsidies of healthcare services for the disabled.

So we will push local governments to make some adjustments.

We will set a unified yardstick for the targets of the subsidies in the Opinion, which will cover disabled people from families receiving minimum living allowances, and severely disabled people at the level of I and II.

The Opinion encourages local governments to expand the scope for subsidies as their financial capacity allows, but they must ensure that the targets stipulated in the Opinion are well covered by the subsidies as required.

We will also improve the operation and management. The way local authorities of civil affairs and associations of disabled people deal with the matter, including the sharing and comparison of information, as well as the process of screening and approval, may not be in accordance with regulations. So we also left enough time for them to prepare for the overall implementation.

As for the standard of subsidies, in a rough calculation, living allowances for the disabled in most provinces are 50 yuan per month for each person, while the subsidies for their healthcare services come in at 50 or 100 yuan.

I believe, with the development of the economy as well as the financial payment capacity, the standard will rise gradually, as explained in the Opinion.

Even calculated using the current standards mentioned above, the central and local governments’ expenditure will amount to 18.1 billion yuan, with living allowances reaching 6 billion yuan, and subsidies for healthcare services standing at 12.1 billion yuan.

However, I believe the actual expenditure is much bigger than that amount, as almost half of the provinces are offering subsidies higher than the minimum level used for this calculation.

The fund is channeled through the budgets of local governments and the central government. The central government will support local governments by increasing general transfer payment.

Hu Kaihong:

That’s all for today’s policy briefing. Thank you all.