Beijing has pledged to channel more poverty relief funds and favourable policies towards ethnic minorities.
The move is an attempt to erase the yawning wealth gap between the regions dominated by ethnic minorities and the developed areas of the mainland.
Yang Jing , Minister of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, told the National People's Congress Standing Committee yesterday that bridging the wealth gap was necessary to maintain the country's environment, social stability and border safety.
Last year, 19.55 million people from ethnic minorities in rural areas were living below the official poverty line, accounting for 54.3 per cent of the country's population of rural poor, he said.
He added that the disposable income of urban residents in the eight provinces and regions - Inner Mongolia , Tibet , Guangxi , Ningxia , Xinjiang , Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai - was only 82.9 per cent of the national average.
The net income of rural residents was just 72.4 per cent of the national level.
Yang said the government would increase construction of railways and roads, provide more drinking water, improve health care and advance the social security network.
