Last month, I visited a "silent" cafe in Jiangsu province, staffed entirely by people with hearing impairments, part of a local initiative to provide stable and dignified employment opportunities for people with hearing disabilities. People with disabilities often struggle to access mainstream jobs due to persistent prejudices about their capabilities. According to staff members at the shop, working at the cafe has not only improved their income and self-worth but also enabled them to afford social security contributions.

The cafe was strategically located in a public place frequented by businesspeople and potential employers — letting them see for themselves how people with hearing disabilities were carrying out professional roles. Even the shop owner admitted she initially doubted her team could master the dozens of intricate recipes.

Similarly, the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games, which concluded on Monday, served as a national platform for people with disabilities to be seen and for deep-seated social biases to be challenged.

At the games, the athletes broke 15 world records and 156 national records — a performance that is actively reshaping public perception of what people with disabilities can achieve. Clips from the games circulated widely on social networking sites. One featured swimmer Jiang Yuyan, who has earned the moniker "Wing-Clipped Flying Fish". The 21-year-old from Zhejiang province, who lost her right arm and leg as a child, was seen training with a prosthetic leg and then cutting through the water — her dedication led her to win in all eight of her events. Equally inspiring was high jumper Zhong Zhiqiang from Guangdong province, who lost his left leg when he was 5 years old, and cleared a height of over 1.66 meters with a single-leg takeoff.

Posts from the event were trending on Sina Weibo. One about the closing ceremony gained over 3 million views, and drew comments such as "Salute to the tenacity of life", "No act of persistence should go unseen".

Such sentiments are a sign of the growing social acceptance of the nation's 85 million people with disabilities.

China's journey in para sports has come a long way since its first national games in 1984, which featured only three official events and 623 athletes. By contrast, 7,824 athletes from 34 delegations registered for the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games — a record in both scale and participation.

These achievements reflect the rapid development of para sport, especially during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period. Team China excelled at the Tokyo (2020) and Paris (2024) Paralympics, while at the Beijing Winter Paralympics (2022) it topped both the gold and overall medal tally for the first time.

Behind this progress lies continuous improvement in social security and support systems. Over the past five years, basic pension and health insurance coverage for people with disabilities remained above 90 percent and 95 percent, respectively. Also, living allowances for people with disabilities rose by 31.9 percent, and long-term care subsidies for those who are bedridden increased by 22.5 percent. The compulsory education enrollment rate for children with disabilities reached 97 percent.

Meanwhile, smart bionics and other assistive technologies are being rapidly adopted and 1.43 million homes of people with severe disabilities have been retrofitted, enhancing the quality of their lives.

In late October, the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in its recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) for national economic and social development, emphasized continued efforts to improve support systems for vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities. All these steps — from a quiet cafe to the national games and systemic policies — are weaving a stronger fabric of inclusion, dignity and recognized capability.

- Li Lei, China Daily