About 2.12 million impoverished handicapped people were covered by various poverty relief programs in 2011, according to the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Last year, 87,000 handicapped individuals found employment through 4,000 poverty support centers across the country. These employment opportunities also uplifted the lives of a further 156,000 family members and dependents.

A further 71,000 disabled people in rural areas benefited from a favorable loan policy that offered reduced interests, while a pairing project enabled 328,000 individuals and 52,000 units to provide long-term financial support to impoverished handicapped persons.

Local governments throughout the country also spent 950 million yuan ($151 million) to renovate the homes of 94,000 families with disabled members.

The overall population of impoverished disabled people in China's rural areas is estimated at about 25 million.