KUNMING, Southwest China, May 11 (Xinhua) -- To join the National Games for the Disabled, competing against other athletes at the venues of various kinds? This idea is luxurious for Zhang Ciran, a father of one disabled son.

    "What I care is his livelihood, how can he live his own life and merge into the society," said Zhang, whose home is in the vicinity of the Kunming Sports Stadium, a venue for the upcoming Games, running from May 12 to 20 in both Kunming, the capital of China's southwest Yunnan province, and neighboring city of Yuxi.

    Zhang said he would definitely go for the Games, not only out of curiosity, but also for a close tie with the disabled persons.

    In China, among its overall 1.3 billion population, 300 million people relate to disabled relatives, accounting for roughly 70 million families with disabled members.

    "My son is not blessed with sport talents of any kinds, he love sports TV programs though," said Zhang, "From the moment he was injured in a car accident when he was four, all in my mind is trying to figure out how to make his ends meet when he grows up."

    The pressure for life has driven Zhang paying close attention to any possible supports his son may get from the newest phase-in policies regarding the disabled population by the Chinese central government and local governments.

    The Chinese government has phased out Labor Regulation for the Disabled, taking effect since the past International Labor Day, the first law of the kind in China in addressing the fairness of labor issues.

    Zhang hopes the law augur well for his son, for the employment situation for the disabled in China is harsh, with the most possible jobs for his son alike are street vendors, massage, or dealing chores in grocery stores and restaurants.

    Though a special education system has been mapped out by the governments from primary school to college-level education and the schooling rate of the disabled children in China has reached 63 percent among 1,662 special schools, the mass population of the disabled persons is still poorly educated, making them even harder merging into the mainstream of society.

    "But to a great extent, the Chinese government has started to address daily problems the disabled persons are facing from various perspectives," said Zhang, referring to a series of measures that the central government determines to force through in the 11th Five-Year Development Strategy of Disabled Persons.

    At a national conference on the issues concerning the disabled population, Ma Xiaowei, China's deputy Health Minister, said that China would continuously push forward the Hospital Administration Year strategy, by putting community services and disease prevention a priority issue and sending more than 10,000 doctors to village communities.

    While strolling along the newly paved roads for the National Games for the Disabled, Zhang is amazed by the efficiency of the sports facility construction efforts of the local governments.

    "They have set up special facilities for the disabled athletes at the bus stops, and even providing free taxi services for these people," said Zhang, "I would like it to be an everyday thing, to make the livelihood easier for all other disabled persons, not only for the athletes."