BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping has said that people with disabilities are "equal members of the global family," and the world needs to pay special attention to taking care of the disabled.

He made the remarks in a congratulatory letter to the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Midpoint Review of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2013-2022), which opened Monday in Beijing.

The president hailed progress made in the welfare of disabled people in China since the reform and opening-up drive was launched about 40 years ago.

Xi said China was committed to a people-centered approach and ensuring and improving people's living standards through development, stated in the report delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China held in October.

"China will continue to promote comprehensive development and common prosperity of disabled people," Xi said.

He also noted that the country would always promote common development in the international cause of the disabled, including within the Asia-Pacific region.

With the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the protection of equal rights and the improvement of integrative development for disabled people have been acknowledged and encouraged by the international community.

Advocated by China, the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities was initiated in Beijing to help Asian and Pacific countries and regions to communicate and learn from each other.

It is considered a strong model of regional cooperation in protecting disabled people.