Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Monday called for more attention
to the development of the country's border areas that are inhabited
by ethnic minorities.
"The state policy of developing border areas and granting more
benefits to border minorities is aimed at improving their living
conditions and strengthening their self development," said Hui at a
meeting to discuss a five-year plan on the development of border
areas.
China has 55 ethnic minorities accounting for just 8.4 percent
of the total population.
Most of the ethnic minority groups live in impoverished western
regions and border areas in 10 provinces or autonomous regions such
as southwestern Yunnan, Guizhou, northwestern Xinjiang and northern
Inner Mongolia.
Hui said the government should strengthen infrastructure
construction such as building roads, rebuilding homes, improving
drinking water, irrigation, electricity and communications so that
each village will have at least one telephone.
The local government should improve the incomes of border
inhabitants, strengthen labor force training and increase
investment to alleviate poverty, Hui said, adding border trade and
regional economic cooperation should be promoted.
The Ministry of Finance will spend more than 14 billion yuan
(US$1.8 billion) this year on roads to link ethnic minority
communities, according to a meeting of the Ethnic Affairs Committee
of the National People's Congress in April.
This year's road-building budget is 94 percent more than last
year's, according to the meeting.
With 55 ethnic minorities, China has adopted a policy of
regional autonomy for ethnic minorities in areas where they live in
compact communities.
(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2007)