China: General Office of the State Council Issued the Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (2025-2027)
On June 25, to further remove employment obstacles of persons with disabilities, broaden employment channels, improve the quality of employment, and effectively protect the equal employment rights of persons with disabilities, the General Office of the State Council issued the Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting the Employment of Persons with Disabilities (2025-2027) (the “Action Plan”).
The Action Plan specifies several significant measures for the state agencies, institutions and employers to promote the employment of persons with disabilities. Among them, employers are required to develop more job positions suitable for persons with disabilities as part of their social responsibility, with tax breaks and other financial incentives available to employers who hire them. Meanwhile, employers should incorporate their performance in fulfilling the obligation of employing people with disabilities in proportion into their corporate social responsibility reports or compile special social responsibility reports.
The Action Plan also states that state-owned enterprises that do not meet the prescribed employment ratio for persons with disabilities are required to participate in at least one special recruitment event for persons with disabilities each year and to send personnel to employer training organised by the Disabled Persons’ Federation. State-owned enterprises are encouraged to give priority to purchasing products or services from employers that concentrate on employing people with disabilities or from supported employment organisations when conducting public bidding procurement under equal conditions.
Vocational skills development and workplace rights protection are also stressed in the Action Plan. Employers are encouraged to participate in the construction of vocational training systems for persons with disabilities and to create brands of vocational training for them. Furthermore, relevant departments will, according to their duties, conduct at least one employer training for entities that have failed to fulfil their employment quota obligations to persons with disabilities for three consecutive years and conduct at least one outreach visit to employers with the potential to hire persons with disabilities.
In addition, local human resources and social security authorities are instructed to tighten oversight over the job market and crack down on violations of workplace rights affecting persons with disabilities. For instance, when reviewing the number of persons with disabilities employed by employers, all local authorities shall strictly implement the relevant provisions of the Administrative Measures for the Collection and Use of Employment Security Levies for the Disabled, and shall not impose additional restrictions such as requirements of household registration.
Key Action Points
The Action Plan establishes multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms that engage government agencies, employers, and even social organisations to enhance workforce inclusion in China. Building upon existing inclusion frameworks, this policy requires employers to develop disability-suitable positions while becoming eligible for tax incentives tied to hiring outcomes, mandates state-owned enterprises below prescribed employment ratios to conduct annual disability recruitment and extend procurement preferences to disability-inclusive suppliers under equal bidding conditions, and institutionalises vocational training systems complemented by rigorous enforcement against discriminatory practices with local authorities implementing review procedures strictly prohibiting extraneous restrictions like household registration requirements. For enterprises, this creates reference frameworks for disability-inclusive hiring decisions while accessing fiscal benefits, though effective execution hinges upon sustained departmental coordination and employer commitment to translating these provisions into workplace integration practice.
