THE participants in Shanghai yesterday were from all walks of life, from all around the world, but with a single goal - the cause of the mentally challenged.

Academics, political leaders and Special Olympics athletes and officials joined forces in talks which resulted in cooperation contracts and a Statement of Support for the mentally disabled.

More than 1,000 scholars and officials from 60 countries and regions took part in the one-day summit, which was part of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

The summit, entitled "Commitment to Changing Lives: the Global Policy Summit on the Well-being of People with Intellectual Disabilities," was co-hosted by Special Olympics International and the China Disabled Persons' Federation.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the summit, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said the Chinese government would take the opportunity of the 2007 Special Olympics to take more positive measures to help people with intellectual disabilities.

"The Chinese government has all along attached great importance to the cause of people with intellectual disabilities, and considers it an important part for its human rights cause and its efforts to build a harmonious society," Hui said.

Keynote addresses were made by a number of academic and political luminaries, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former film action hero and now governor of California.

The United Nations Children's Fund announced that it would promote the participation and empowerment of children with intellectual disabilities and their families through sports. The program will initially be confined to seven countries: China, Bulgaria, Cambodia, El Salvador, Jamaica, Panama and Uzbekestan.

The United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention has renewed a five-year cooperative pact with the Special Olympics for services and education at US$4.34 million a year plus a five-year US$1 million annual research cooperative agreement.