BEIJING -- China on Thursday issued a white paper on the country's efforts to protect rights and interests of persons with disabilities over the past 70 years.

The white paper, titled "Equality, Participation and Sharing: 70 Years of Protecting the Rights and Interests of Persons with Disabilities in the PRC," was released by the State Council Information Office.

China now has around 85 million people with disabilities, according to the white paper.

Over the 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government have always put the people first and provided care for the group with special difficulties, making them participants in, contributors to, and beneficiaries of the country's social and economic development, it said.