China has established federations for disabled persons in 40,385 townships and township-level residential districts, or 97 percent of such districts, the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) said Sunday.

The number of townships and residential districts with disabled persons' federations increased by 907 from a year earlier, a CDPF official said.

The official said disabled persons' federations at all levels will make use of volunteers to better help disabled people this year.

The CDPF will focus on the recruitment and training of volunteers, he added.

Disabled people across China have received more income and better welfare and public and rehabilitation services over the past five years, the CDPF said last month.

Government spending on programs for the disabled in the 2006-2011 period more than doubled compared with the previous five years.

China has 83 million disabled people. The number is expected to top 100 million within the next five years.

The CDPF is the central government-approved social organization that manages disabled people affairs.

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2011)