Although around 83 million people with disabilities live in China they are rarely seen.
These citizens require equal access to services and public infrastructure. In an ideal world, all buses would be wheelchair friendly, and train timetables would be available as audio recordings for the visually impaired.
Reality has yet to catch up with this vision.
Now the State Council is soliciting public opinions on its new regulation on barrier-free facilities for people with disabilities.
Part of the regulation is allowing guide dogs to accompany visually impaired people on the country's public transport.
If executed, the rule would help people with disabilities enjoy life outdoors. Access to public transport is a right for disabled people. Few people with disabilities can use public transport by themselves, which imposes severe restrictions on their freedom and autonomy.
People living with disabilities experience discrimination in many different ways. Discrimination against physically challenged people in workplaces and in communities is still evident in the country and some children with disabilities are not able to attend school.
The Law on the Protection of Persons with Disabilities forbids discrimination based on disability and requires public buildings and employment centers to be accessible to people with disabilities. But many promises included in the law have not materialized.
Big cities in the country do attempt to make the life of the physically challenged people easier. They have handicapped-accessible buses, add wheelchairs at park entrances and build bumpy, raised-patterned sidewalks for the blind.
But the sidewalks for the blind are sometimes blocked or in places of limited value, and wheelchair ramps are not built long and low according to the standards, but short and steep, in order to save money.
The China Disabled Persons' Federation announced it will train more volunteers to aid people with disabilities in the next five years. It expects to increase the registered volunteers from 5.3 million to 10 million by 2015.
However, admirable as this is, it is more important to make our society friendlier for people with disabilities.
If the government wants to encourage them to integrate into society, the means must be provided first.
It is important for the government to fulfill its commitment to the letter and spirit of the Law on the Protection of People with Disabilities. Public places should install barrier-free facilities as stipulated in the relevant laws and regulations.
Persons with disabilities have the right to use public transport facilities, amenities and services that are open or provided to the public on equal basis with persons without disabilities.