BEIJING -- The social security system for persons with disabilities has been steadily improved in China, according to a white paper released by the State Council Information Office on Thursday.

Persons with disabilities enjoy social assistance, welfare and insurance benefits according to regulations, and lead a higher-quality life with a greater sense of gain, said the white paper on China's protection of the rights and interests of persons with disabilities over the past 70 years.

By March 2018, over 9 million persons with disabilities had received urban or rural subsistence allowances, said the white paper.

In the management and renovation of public rental housing and old residential areas in urban areas, priority is given to poor people with disabilities, it said, adding 620,000 persons with disabilities enjoyed public rental housing security in 2018.

By 2018, the central finance had supported nearly 1.77 million rural poor households with one or more disabled members to renovate their dilapidated houses.

Eligible impoverished persons with disabilities are covered by medical assistance, and receive subsidies for basic medical insurance. Some provinces and municipalities give preferential policies and subsidies to low-income families with one or more disabled members for the use of domestic water, electricity, gas and heating, and other basic living expenses, according to the white paper.

Since the targeted poverty alleviation strategy was established, the government has registered more than 6 million persons with disabilities as poverty-stricken households in need of help. By 2018, the number of registered poor people with disabilities had decreased to 1.7 million.