Source: China Daily

07-26-2007 18:04

Implementation of the ethnic regional autonomy system has led the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to witness dramatic social and economic change over the past six decades, said Chu Bo, secretary of the region's committee of the Communist Party of China.

The autonomous region was founded on May 1, 1947.

Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the people of this ethnic autonomous region have come together to build a future of all-round prosperity.

Sixty years ago, Inner Mongolia was an underdeveloped area with extremely low levels of social and economic development, said Chu. Its annual gross domestic product (GDP) at the time was only 540 million yuan.

Agriculture and related pursuits, especially animal husbandry, were the pillars of its economy, with annual grain production standing at a mere 1.85 million tons and animal output at 9.32 million heads.

The region's manufacturing industry at the time comprised only 687 small factories and mills. Most of the daily necessities of residents, including clothes and farming equipment, had to be supplied by the rest of the country.

There were only about 30 middle schools and a few primary schools 60 years ago, and 90 percent of the population of Inner Mongolia was illiterate.