People with disabilities across China have received more income and better social welfare as well as public and rehabilitation services over the past five years, said the vice president of the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) Tuesday.

"Thanks to a slew of government measures, disabled people in China now enjoy a moderate standard of living," said Wang Naikun at a press conference of the State Council Information Office.

Government spending on programs for the disabled for the 2006-2011 period more than doubled that of the previous five years.

The increased funding went into improving vocational training and employment services for the disabled.

The government has provided discounted loans worth 4 billion yuan (US$597 million) since 2006 to help poor disabled persons in rural areas find work in the agriculture sector.

This program lifted over 6 million disabled people out of poverty. Nearly 18 million disabled people in rural areas now earn more income through such job programs.

Besides the job programs, the government has launched programs to ensure disabled people can enjoy the same educational, healthcare, and other social welfare services as normal people.

In 2008, the government made a plan to renovate and build 1,160 special schools for the disabled in China's central and western areas, with 300 of them now completed.

Wang said the school enrollment rate of disabled children had risen in recent years. By the end of 2009, there were 1,672 special schools for disabled persons, with 428,000 students.

Concerning social welfare, she said nearly 95 percent of disabled people in rural areas were part of a health care insurance program and 2.38 million in urban areas received minimum subsistence allowances from the government also by the end of 2009.

However, she said despite the progress, the living standard of people with disabilities in China was still much lower than the national average. This was especially true for disabled people living in rural areas, who account for 70 percent of the total number.

Imbalances in social and economic development in China had also contributed to the wealth gap, she said. Certain social welfare services were lacking as a result.

The solution is to build more special schools and create more jobs for the disabled, among other things, she said.

Also, the government should build more special facilities for the disabled and a rehabilitation system composed of rehabilitation centers and foster homes for them, she said.

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

The CDPF is a social organization approved by the central government to handle affairs of the disabled.