Landmark legislation removes barriers for disabled, elderly

This photo taken on April 22, 2023 shows a barrier-free movie experience area for visually impaired people in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. [Xinhua/Duan Jingjing]

BEIJING -- A new law on building a barrier-free living environment was adopted by Chinese lawmakers on Wednesday during a three-day session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress.

The law, which will take effect on Sept. 1, 2023, consists of eight chapters and makes provisions regarding the construction of accessible facilities, accessible information exchanges and social services, guarantee measures, supervision and management, and liability.

It is the first time that China has enacted a specific law on the construction of a barrier-free living environment, which aims to improve the daily lives of both disabled and elderly people.

EXPANDING THE BENEFICIARY GROUP

Compared with the previous regulations in the field, which mainly respond to the needs of disabled people, the new law expands the beneficiary group with the legislative purpose of "ensuring equal, full and convenient participation and integration of persons with disabilities and the elderly into social life."

In 2021, there were 267 million people aged 60 and above in China. According to data from the National Health Commission, the number is expected to exceed 300 million during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) and surpass 400 million by 2035, accounting for over 30 percent of the total population.

The huge number of elderly people makes them one of the key beneficiary groups of a barrier-free living environment.

Liao Juan, an associate professor at the School of Management of Capital Normal University in Beijing, said the new law closely addresses the needs and expectations of people with disabilities and the elderly in terms of system design, standard establishment and construction requirements, responding strongly to practical needs.

ADDRESSING PRESSING ISSUES

The new law makes targeted provisions on enhancing barrier-free services in public transportation, education and examinations, medical and health care, and other scenarios closely related to social life.

The law stipulates that institutions providing relevant services for people with disabilities or the elderly should be equipped with barrier-free amenities, and their services should include barrier-free daily care and rehabilitation care, among other such services.

It also adds new mandatory regulations on the provision of barrier-free services in emergency shelters, and relevant regulations on improving the use of service dogs for people with disabilities.

To address the issue of unfriendly small print on user manuals, especially for medicines, the law prescribes that pharmaceutical manufacturers and operators should provide audio, large-print, electronic and other barrier-free versions of labeling and manuals.

It stipulates that the state encourages the compiling and publishing of Braille and large-print editions of textbooks for different educational stages to meet the needs of blind and visually-challenged students.

"The move will make a lot of difference for the future development of visually-impaired children," said Lyu Shiming, head of the China Association of Volunteers for Persons with Disabilities.

FINE-TUNING SUPERVISION

Regarding oversight and management work, the law underscores that organizations such as disabled people's federations and aging population committees have the discretion to employ representatives of people with disabilities or the elderly, as well as professionals in the field, to oversee the construction of the barrier-free environment.

Wuhan University researcher Ding Peng said that inviting these groups to engage in processes such as designing and evaluation is instrumental to improving the quality of barrier-free facilities.