Chinese President Xi Jinping tries to reassure ethnic minorities they won’t be ‘left behind’

Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought to reassure ethnic minorities that they are part of Beijing’s “common prosperity” programme during a visit to one of the country’s poorest regions.

Xi made the remarks on Monday in Wuzhong, in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region – home to the Hui Muslim ethnic minority in the country’s northwest, according to state media reports on Wednesday.

“Visiting the Jinhuayuan residential community, where people of several ethnic groups live together, Xi said no single ethnic minority group should be left behind in the country’s building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects,” official news agency Xinhua reported.

“It represents the fine tradition of the Chinese nation and the great strength of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics to enable people of all ethnic groups to walk hand in hand into a moderately prosperous society,” the president was quoted as saying.

Xi also talked about poverty alleviation, protecting the environment and clean government while he was in Ningxia – his seventh visit to the provinces this year. He has frequently used regional tours to press local cadres to ensure stability in their areas as China faces an increasingly volatile international environment.

The president made similar remarks about ethnic unity last month when he called on the Maonan in the southern Guangxi Zhuang region to keep improving their living standards after they officially rose above the poverty line.