Chang Zheng, head of the Chinese delegation to the 25th Summer Deaflympics, carried out a series of international exchanges on disability affairs in Tokyo, Japan, from Nov 13 to 18.
While meeting with Adam Kosa, president of the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), Chang, a senior official at the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), highlighted the Chinese government's strong commitment to advancing the well-being of persons with disabilities, improving their living conditions and safeguarding their right to sports participation through concrete measures. This has led to robust growth of China's deaf sports, he said.
He noted that the CDPF and the China Deaf Sports Association are willing to deepen their cooperation with the ICSD and other international disability sports organizations, contributing to the global development of deaf sports.
Kosa commended China's remarkable social and economic achievements and the rapid progress of deaf sports in the country. He expressed hope for enhanced collaboration with the Chinese side in sports development, event hosting and team building, as well as experience sharing from China.
In a meeting with Kiyosawa Yukitaka, secretary-general of the Japanese Paralympic Committee, Chang reviewed bilateral cooperation in disability sports and exchanged views on athlete classifications, technical personnel training and the promotion of mass sports for persons with disabilities.
Moreover, he expressed the hope that the two sides could deepen their practical cooperation in areas such as joint training and exchanges on strengths in specific sports.
Kiyosawa said the Japanese Paralympic Committee is willing to share its experience with China and work together to advance disability sports in both countries.
On the sidelines of the games, the Chinese delegation also met with representatives from the deaf sports associations of the UK, US, France and Malaysia, as well as the delegations of Hong Kong and Macao, to expand professional exchanges.