BEIJING - Around 4.45 million disabled urban residents and 17.7 million rural people in China were employed as of the end of 2012, new data has indicated.

The China Disabled Persons' Federation said on Thursday that from the start of 2008 to the end of 2012, 1.69 million people in cities and towns were newly employed, and the number of vocational training centers reached 5,271 nationwide, with more than 1.4 million city residents receiving such training.

It added that the period saw sound development of massage businesses staffed by blind masseurs.

China has cultivated 96,000 blind masseurs and set up 13,735 blind massage parlors, with 14,491 blind people acquiring intermediate and primary professional titles.

On Wednesday, the federation revealed that 35,000 disabled people were enrolled by China's regular higher education institutions from 2008 to 2012.