Even with the world's largest disabled population, China's prosthetics makers are far from happy.
Unlike the mass-produced toys that China is famous for, its prosthetics are expensive, costly to maintain and often poorly made - attributes that exclude most Chinese from getting to use them.
"The technology and performance of domestic prosthetics lag far behind what we see produced by Western countries," said Wu Xihan, a prosthetics expert for China's national Paralympic teams. "Domestic products are much cheaper but they have to improve."
Some 600 factories in China produce about 50,000 prostheses each year, while an estimated 1.5 million Chinese are still in need of an affordable prosthetic limb or body part.
Most of these factories just produce simple joints and parts for foreign manufacturers, and none have the technology to make advanced prosthetics with artificial mechanisms and systems.
A worker assebles a prosthetic limb at the Beijing Prosthetic Factory. [China Daily/The Olympian] |
The country's most popular products, however, are wheelchairs, with more than 1 million produced each year - mostly designed for Western customers.
Jin Ergang, president of the China Prosthetics and Orthotics Association, said the industry started late in China, and experts in the field are scarce, with less than a quarter of the number currently in the US, Germany or Japan.
"That's why the quality and quantity of Chinese products are below par," he said.
Even for those monied Chinese or national heroes who can afford a better life, their choices are limited to German, British and French brands, which came to China and instantly conquered the local markets in major cities because of the scarcity of domestic competitors.
"An imported prosthetic limb costs from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan, almost the entire deposit for most Chinese families, and we are not taking account of the maintenance fees," said Chen Zhonggang, a sales representative of a joint venture in Beijing.
"So without government funding, it is impossible for most people with disabilities to buy themselves a better life," he said.
As such, the majority of China's more than two million amputees have chosen to stay tucked away in their homes.
Jin said the governing body for China's prosthetic industry is proposing that the government allow more funding to upgrade the industry and provide financial support for the disabled.
"The Beijing Paralympic Games will raise more concern for disabled members of the population. With more attention paid to them, our industry will also have a chance to develop. I hope we can make a difference," he said.
"It is time to invite the disabled to walk out of the shadows," said Chen.
