China's paralympic delegation chief Zhang Haidi (L) presents a gift to the head of Paralympic Village during the flag-raising ceremony at the Paralympic Village in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Sept. 5, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Chairwoman of China Disabled Persons' Federation Zhang Haidi was on Thursday officially inaugurated as the leader of the Rehabilitation International (RI).

She was sworn in at the closing ceremony of the three-day world congress of the RI, the world's leading network for the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities.

Addressing the ceremony, Zhang, 61, who lives with paraplegia and has been praised for her effective disability activism and thus dubbed "China's Helen Keller", pledged that she will help improve the livelihood of the world's 1 billion disabled people and provide them with the opportunity of recovery, education and employment as well as decent lives.

Founded in 1922, the RI is a worldwide network of grassroots organizations, service providers, researchers, academics, professionals and government agencies with members in over 100 countries and regions. It is the only international disability NGO that is both cross-disability and cross-disciplinary.

The RI world congress, held every four years, brings together government, business, academics and charity groups. About 1,000 delegates from 60 countries and regions are attending the major international event on disability.