Leaning on a cane with one hand and holding a notebook in the other, Li Li, a deputy to the National People's Congress and an employee of Hubei Daye Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings Co., Ltd., recently visited the business hall of a power supply company to research barrier-free electricity services.

The cane is essential equipment for Li Li when she goes out to conduct research and perform her duties. As a person with a disability, Li Li pays special attention to disadvantaged groups. Since being elected as a deputy to the National People's Congress in 2013, her cane has accompanied her down mine shafts and up high ladders, and she has worn out three of them. In the past, she put forward suggestions on tuition reductions for students with disabilities and employment protection for people with disabilities. In recent years, she has focused on the construction of a barrier-free urban environment.

"China has more than 85 million people with disabilities, and at the same time the trend of population aging is obvious, so the demand for a barrier-free environment can be imagined." Li Li recalled that during a research visit to a nursing home, she found that watching TV had actually become a "troublesome matter" for many elderly people; in order to turn on the TV smoothly, the elderly had to ask staff for help.

"Digital TVs are often equipped with two or three remote controls, and it takes multiple alternating presses to enter a channel to watch... The complicated operation brings inconvenience to groups such as the elderly and people with disabilities." Li Li said that information accessibility is an important part of a barrier-free environment and deserves attention.

As her ability to perform her duties has continued to improve, Li Li has gradually begun to pay attention to more fields and take more groups into consideration. Medical and health care, elderly care security, urban renewal, environmental protection... Over the past 11 years, she has put forward more than 100 suggestions and other items, totaling more than 500,000 Chinese characters. Li Li said that at this year's National People's Congress and National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference sessions, she will focus on topics such as improving the big data sharing mechanism and put forward relevant suggestions, striving to help more people participate in and integrate into social life equally and conveniently.

Reporter's Notes

Performing Duties with Heart and Dedication

On September 1, 2023, China's first specialized law on barrier-free environment construction—the Law on the Construction of a Barrier-Free Environment—officially came into effect. "This has always been my wish," Li Li told the reporter.

Despite her physical disability, Li Li still insists on regularly visiting nursing homes, special education schools, and the homes of people with disabilities to learn about people's conditions and listen to their voices, and to do practical and good deeds with heart and dedication for disadvantaged groups such as the elderly and people with disabilities.

"I never forget that I am a deputy to the National People's Congress from the grassroots," Li Li said.