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Jiaxing in East China's Zhejiang province made strong progress in improving the well-being of those suffering from disabilities in 2019, according to a meeting held by the Jiaxing Disabled Persons' Federation on April 10.

The city invested 436 million yuan ($61.96 million) in projects for the disabled and collected 507 million yuan in employment security funds for the disabled last year.

In 2019, Jiaxing established 77 centers for the disabled which have accommodated 2,442 persons with disabilities to date, both figures topping other cities in Zhejiang.

Jiaxing organized 105 vocational training classes for 2,760 disabled people last year, 180 of whom independently started their own e-commerce businesses.

The employment rate of employable disabled people in Jiaxing amounted to 97.35 percent, with a total of 31,784 receiving employment, leading other cities in Zhejiang.

Jiaxing also piloted the leasing of auxiliary devices in residential communities and served 1,610 disabled people last year.

In addition, over 5.73 million disabled Jiaxing residents received free bus services, 17,934 received living allowances, 5,363 received social insurance for self-employment, and 5,379 received free medicine.

The city also hosted the sixth National Vocational Skills Competition for the Disabled last year, making Jiaxing the first prefecture-level city in China to hold the competition.

In 2020, Jiaxing plans to renovate 20 centers for the disabled, launch barrier-free renovations to 1,100 households with disabled people, and organize vocational skills competitions to further improve the well-being of the disabled in the city.