NGO Information Note for the Universal Periodic Review of China Third Cycle

November 6, 2018

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, approximately 15% of people worldwide are persons with disabilities, and women with disabilities account for 19.2% of the total population of women around the world. However, official statistics from China indicate a much smaller percentage of persons with disabilities in the country. According to China’s official statistics, in 2010, approximately 6.21% of the population, or 85.02 million people, had disabilities, among whom 41.20 million or 48.45% were women. The significant difference between global estimates and these Chinese statistics is likely due to a narrow definition of disability in China, which includes just specific types of individual impairments confirmed by a medical diagnosis. In 2012, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee), which monitors State implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), expressed concern about China’s definition of disability and recommended introducing the human rights model of disability into Chinese disability policy so that it works to remove barriers hindering the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities, instead of focusing on a “cure” or “fix” to disability.