Chinese lawmakers consider draft law on barrier-free living environment

BEIJING -- A draft law on building a barrier-free living environment was tabled before Chinese lawmakers for the third reading on Monday.

To be discussed at the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, the draft focuses on addressing prominent issues for seniors and people with disabilities.

The latest version of the draft highlights combined efforts in promoting the development of a barrier-free environment and elderly-friendly renovations as China is actively responding to an aging population.

The draft stipulates that the state encourages compiling and publishing Braille and large-print editions of textbooks for different education stages to meet the need of blind and visually impaired students.

It also requires museums, cultural centers, and science and technology centers to provide barrier-free facilities and services for seniors and people with disabilities.

The state encourages producers and business operators of food, drugs, and other commodities to provide product labels and manuals in accessible forms, such as audio, large print, and Braille, for the aforementioned groups, according to the draft.

To create a barrier-free environment, the draft proposes introducing tax incentives as part of the encouragement measures and stresses the importance of leveraging new technologies.