V. Accelerating the Economic and Social Development of the Ethnic Minorities and Minority Areas

Adhering to common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups is the fundamental stance of China's ethnic policy.

The Constitution stipulates, "The state does its utmost to promote the common prosperity of all ethnic groups in the country." The Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy stipulates that it is a legal obligation of the higher-level state organs to help the minority areas accelerate their development. Over the years, the state has made it a major part of national development to promote the economic and social progress of the ethnic minorities and minority areas, and has worked out from time to time policies and measures to this end.

Before the founding of New China in 1949, most minority areas had an extremely low level of productivity, backward economic and social development, and extremely poor infrastructure. There was not an inch of railway in Xinjiang, not a single highway in Tibet, and in mountainous Yunnan, horses, elephants and suspension cables were all the locals could rely on for traveling or carrying goods. People of the ethnic minorities engaged mainly in traditional agriculture and animal husbandry. Some places were still in the primitive "slash-and-burn" state. In some areas, people still used wooden and stone tools; and iron tools were not yet widespread. The ethnic minorities led a life full of misery. Life was even worse for those living in the mountainous and desert areas, where a dearth of food and clothing was common. For months almost every year they would run out of grain and had to survive on wild fruits, and in the harsh winter they had nothing to keep out the cold but straw capes. All this hindered the progress of the ethnic minorities. Some of them were on the verge of extinction, with the Hezhen numbering only some 300 people at the time of the founding of New China. It was on such an extremely backward basis that the social and economic construction of the ethnic minorities and minority areas began in New China.

The CPC and the central government have always supported the development of the ethnic minorities and minority areas. When New China was established, the Chinese government made it a basic task to rid all ethnic groups of poverty and enable them to lead a better life. Since the adoption of the reform and opening-up policies in the late 1970s, the state has focused on economic construction, given top priority to development, made increasing efforts and carried out several significant measures to quicken the advance of the ethnic minorities and minority areas. Over the years, the ethnic minorities and minority areas have all along upheld the spirit of self-reliance and hard working, coupled with assistance from economically advanced parts of China and state preferential policies, striven to build better homes for themselves. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the entire nation, the ethnic minorities and minority areas have seen one leap forward after another in their economic and social progress, completely got rid of stark poverty and backwardness, and entered a stage unparalleled in history.