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Wheelchair users moving forward - 26th May 2021

President Xi vowed in 2019 that "No disabled person should be left behind" in China, which state-run media estimates is home to 85 million wheelchair users. In spite of this and the country's swift and highly successful modernisation, the public perception of people with disabilities remains wanting.

At times, Shanghai's wheelchair users are given little alternative but to join vehicles on congested roads.

Remaining upbeat, Huang Yan, who works in online retailing, has noticed positive developments.

Huang Yan: "Of course the whole situation [for wheelchair users] is improving, including people's attitudes. Ten years ago, many people would look at me as an alien. But now they see me as their equal and don't pay too much attention to me. Moreover, the barrier-free facilities are improving too."

Inevitably, trials and tribulations persist for China's disabled communities. Reliant on a wheelchair since suffering from polio in adolescence, vlogger Zhao Hongcheng is committed to the struggle for equal rights. While Zhao has successfully gained a Master's qualification, she highlights academic inequality, aware that she’s the exception not the rule.

Zhao Hongcheng: "Wheelchair users still face difficulties getting into education and employment. That's why they're not being seen very often, but that doesn't mean there are not many of them. The number of wheelchair users is actually very high."

The two women regularly press local government departments to address accessibility and discrimination-related setbacks but, while issues are sometimes rectified, both clued up reformers are under no illusions about the realities of disabled people living outside major urban centres. Championing the rights of wheelchair users, both strive for a unified society.