By 2018, the employment figure of people with certified disabilities had reached 9.48 million in China, according to a white paper released Thursday by the State Council Information Office.

In the past decade, the size and structure of employed persons with disabilities has remained stable, and the number has risen by 300,000 every year, said the white paper on China's protection of the rights and interests of persons with disabilities over the past 70 years.

In 2018, another 367,000 persons with certified disabilities were hired, 118,000 in urban areas and 249,000 in rural areas.

Persons with disabilities in both rural and urban areas who are able to and wish to work are entitled to free services in finding employment or establishing self-employment; help is offered to those with disabilities in seeking employment and to employers in hiring them.

By 2018, there had been 2,811 employment service organizations for persons with disabilities, with 34,000 staff, said the white paper.

Since 2011, nearly 13 million persons with disabilities have been helped to engage in production activities through poverty relief efforts, and as a result 6.76 million have got out of poverty.

Across the country, 5,490 poverty alleviation centers for persons with disabilities have been set up, employing 881,000 persons with disabilities and helping to increase the income of 1.77 million households with one or more disabled members, according to the white paper.