Vice president wishes Inner Mongolia better future

Source: Xinhuanet | 08-09-2007 09:47

HOHHOT, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice-President Zeng Qinghongon Wednesday urged people of all ethnic groups in Inner Mongolia to sum up experience and work harder to strive for a prosperous future.

The region should take its 60th founding anniversary as a new starting point to realize sustainable economic and social development, improve the system of ethnic autonomy in the region and improve people's life steadily " Zeng said at a ceremony celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region.

The region was the first of five province-level autonomous regions established in China with a population of 23.92 million at the end of 2006, 4.23 million of whom were ethnic Mongolians.

Zeng, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, called on the region to take a scientific approach to development and strike a balance between economic development, urbanization and environmental protection.

The region should draft more regional laws and regulations to protect the rights of ethnic minorities and train a contingent of ethnic cadres, he said.

The vice-president called on local officials to solve problems in health care, employment, education and social security and other issues most concerned by ordinary people.

After listing the great achievements scored by Inner Mongolia in the past 60 years, Zeng said, "The region's great achievements symbolize victory of the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s policy on regional autonomy of ethnic groups."

The Party's ethnic policies had brought about the prosperity and harmony of the region, he added.

Under the CPC leadership, Inner Mongolia has enjoyed economic prosperity since its founding on May 1, 1947. The region's gross domestic produce (GDP) increased by 196 times over the past 60 years, and the region ranked first in the country in terms of growth rate in the past five years, he said.

The disposable income of urban residents in Inner Mongolia rose by 37 times over 1978 when China started its economic reform and the net income of farmers and herdsmen also went up by 25 times.

With an area of 1.18 million square kilometers, Inner Mongolia covers 12 percent of China's territory and is the third largest of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland.

Editor:Du Xiaodan