VII. Striving to Foster Cadres and Talented People of the Ethnic Minorities
Ethnic-minority cadres and talented people are outstanding elements of ethnic minorities. Being well acquainted with the languages, histories, traditions and customs of their own ethnic groups, and the political, economic and cultural characteristics of their localities, they serve as a link between the government and minority peoples. The situation of minority cadres and talented people indicates the development level of the ethnic minorities. For a long period of time, the state has regarded the fostering of minority cadres and talented people as a key to promoting the prosperity and development of the ethnic minorities, doing a good job of making progress in the minority areas and solving the problems of the ethnic minorities. Considering it a matter of long-term significance and fundamental nature, it has unremittingly taken effective measures to strengthen the recruiting and training of them.
The Constitution stipulates that the state shall help the ethnic autonomous areas train in large numbers cadres at various levels, specialized personnel and skilled workers of various professions and trades from among the ethnic group or ethnic groups in those areas; and all the ethnic minorities are entitled to appropriate representation in the Standing Committee of the NPC. The Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy stipulates that the heads of all autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties should be citizens of the ethnic group(s) exercising regional autonomy in the areas concerned. The functionaries of the working bodies subsidiary to the organs of self-government shall include an appropriate number of members of the ethnic group(s) exercising regional autonomy as well as members of other ethnic minorities. The Civil Service Law of the People's Republic of China provides that, when recruiting civil servants in an ethnic autonomous area, the applicants of ethic minorities shall be given appropriate preferential treatment.
As soon as the People's Republic of China was founded, the state called to train a large number of minority cadres. To this end, the state established special institutions of higher learning for such training. In the 1950s ten such colleges were set up, including the Central College for Ethnic Minorities, Northwest College for Ethnic Minorities, Southwest College for Ethnic Minorities, South-Central College for Ethnic Minorities and Guangxi College for Ethnic Minorities. Since the launch of the reform and opening-up drive, the state has again established the Hubei College for Ethnic Minorities, North University for Ethnic Minorities and Dalian College for Ethnic Minorities. Along with the progress of the times, many of them developed into universities. Their enrollment has expanded and academic level constantly enhanced. So far, there are 15 institutions of higher learning for the ethnic minorities in China. Furthermore, the state has held training classes and schools for minority cadres, and ethnic-minority classes in ordinary institutions of higher learning, making unremitting efforts to enhance the cultivation of minority cadres.
The state attaches great importance to the recruitment and training of minority cadres. Minority cadres account for a certain percentage in each ethnic autonomous area. A large number of minority cadres are in leading posts at all levels. In open selection and competition for leading body of a given place or unit, a certain ratio or a certain number of posts would be given to minority cadres. When recruiting civil servants, the state appropriately lowers the standard for minority applicants. To ensure that a certain number of minority applicants become civil servants, some preferential treatment is adopted, such as designating certain percentages, targeted recruitment and adding appropriate scores.
The state unremittingly enhances the education and training of minority cadres. It regularly selects and sends minority cadres to Party schools at all levels and various colleges to receive training, and organizes minority cadres to tour the developed coastal areas in a planned way, so as to keep improving their qualities. Since 2003, the "Western Light" program has been launched by related government departments to train visiting scholars. The state has selected 1,416 high-caliber technical personnel from the western regions to attend one-year study courses at leading domestic institutions of higher learning, scientific research institutes and medical organizations, aiming to train them to be high-level professionals badly needed in western China. Among them, 553 are from the minority areas, accounting for 39.1 percent of the total.
