Backgrounder: Regional autonomy for China´s ethnic minorities

Source: Xinhua | 04-30-2008 16:02

BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Regional autonomy for ethnic minorities is an important policy of Chinese government in handling ethnic affairs.

The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, established in 1947, is the first autonomous region for ethnic minorities in China. It was followed by the Xinjiang Uygur, Guangxi Zhuang, Ningxia Hui and Tibet autonomous regions.

Regional autonomy for ethnic minorities in China means that, under the unified leadership of the state, regional autonomy is practiced in areas where people of ethnic minorities live in compact communities. In these areas, organs of self-government are established for the exercise of autonomy.

China is a united multi-ethnic state with a long history. Almost all the central authorities of the feudal dynasties adopted a policy of "rule by custom" towards the ethnic minorities. Under this policy, the political unification of the country was maintained while the ethnic minorities were allowed to preserve their own social systems and cultures.

The first National People's Congress that convened in 1954 included the system of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, issued in 2001, explicitly stipulates the "system of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities is a basic political system of the State".

Through 2007, China had established 155 ethnic autonomous areas. Of these, five were autonomous regions, 30 autonomous prefectures and 120 autonomous counties.

Among the country's 55 ethnic minorities, 44 have autonomous areas covering 75 percent of the total ethnic minority population.

The sixth census in 2005 showed China had a population of more than 1.3 billion. Han people accounted for 90.56 percent and ethnic minorities 9.44 percent. Compared with the 2000 census, the population of ethnic minorities increased by 15.88 percent, much higher than the Han's 2.03 percent.

After 61 years of this system and 30 years of reform and opening-up, rapid economic and social progress have been made in these autonomous regions, accounting for 64 percent of the country's total area.

In 2006, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the five autonomous regions and Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai, three provinces densely populated by ethnic minorities, exceeded 2 trillion yuan (289 billion U.S. dollars), an annual increase of 13.2 percent from 2002.

In 2006, the number of impoverished people decreased from 132.2 million to 121.1 million.

Starting in 2007, the country had allocated 180 million yuan annually to develop its frontier counties where many ethnic minorities reside.

By the end of 2007, the nine years of compulsory education for children had been realized in 330 counties in western China, making up 88.7 percent of the total counties in western China.

The implementation of this policy is critical to enhancing the relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among different ethnic groups, to uphold national unification and to accelerate the development of places where regional autonomy is practiced and promoting their progress.

After 61 years, the autonomy system has proved a wise choice to promote harmonious relations between people of various ethnic groups. The government will stick to this system, an important component of the country's political mechanism, and bring peace and prosperity for all Chinese.

Editor:Zhang Ning