BEIJING - China will raise the annual allowance for disabled soldiers by 15 percent from October 1, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Saturday.

Under the new policy, the highest amount of annual allowance for handicapped soldiers will reach 37,940 yuan (6,036 U.S. dollars), nearly 5,000 yuan above last year's cap, said the statement.

It specified that the policy will also cover police officers, civil servants and disabled members of the militia, as well as retired Red Army soldiers living in rural areas and the immediate family members of martyears.

As a result, the central government's budget is expected to allocate some 880 million yuan more to the 2012 allowance program, bringing the total to 27.7 billion yuan, it added.

In 2011, the urban per capita disposable income and rural per capita net income reached 21,810 yuan and 6,977 yuan, respectively.