The 6th China-US Coordination Meeting on Disability was held in Beijing from Nov 6 to 9, to implement the consensus reached between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their meeting in Washington in October.
The US governmental delegation was led by Sara Minkara, special adviser on international disability rights at the US Department of State.
Zhou Changkui, director of the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) executive council, attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the meeting. He said that China and the US have cooperated closely on meeting the needs of people with disabilities in recent years and have witnessed a great deal of progress.
Zhou said that China has adhered to a people-centered development approach and given top priority to human rights protection and livelihood improvement for the disabled. He added that while numerous differences exist between China and the US in national conditions and social and economic development, the two countries share the common goal of promoting fair social engagement among and the integrated development of the disabled.
During the meeting, heads of the Chinese and US governmental delegations held talks and exchanged views on promoting bilateral communication in the affairs of people with disabilities and strengthening international cooperation in relevant fields. They agreed to further expand bilateral cooperation, engage in pragmatic collaboration, and work together to improve the wellbeing of the disabled and enhance the friendship between the two peoples.
The two delegations also held in-depth exchanges on the education and employment of people with disabilities and the building of a barrier-free environment.
The China-US Coordination Meeting on Disability is an inter-governmental dialogue platform for the two countries to advance their cooperation and exchanges on issues concerning people with disabilities, which was first held in Washington in April 2015.
Li Dongmei and You Liang, deputy directors of the CDPF executive council, also attended the meeting.