Rehabilitation China 2000, a trade fair displaying rehabilitation products, started Tuesday at Beijing's China International Exhibition Center.

The four-day exhibition, which is sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the Institute of Artificial Limbs under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the National Technical Committee for Rehabilitation Equipment Standardization, and the Ministry of Health, shows disabled Chinese the most advanced rehabilitation equipment and concerned technologies in the world.

More than 100 companies from China, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the United States and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are participating in the exhibition.

The exhibits include artificial limbs, corrective aids, nursing equipment, rehabilitation tools, health food, health care equipment and other facilities.
Organizers also plan to carry out specialized symposiums, providing domestic and overseas manufacturers with a chance to make technological exchanges.

China has more than 60 million disabled people, the most of any country. Medical experts said that about half of the disabled Chinese could resume their physical functions with the help of special tools.

Statistics also indicate that the country has 4.9 million people who are stricken by polio, and 13 million deaf or dumb people, 800,000 amputees.
(Xinhua 11/07/2000)