A?small county in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has stopped a plan for Qiang ethnicity registration because it contravenes state regulations.

Fengxian County decided last month to allow families who had lived locally for three generations, or who had Qiang blood, to be eligible to register as Qiang people, Chinese Business View reported yesterday.

The new county policy encouraged thousands of Fengxian residents to apply.

Under state policy, preferential treatment in areas from education to employment is available to all ethnic minority groups.

Some feared the county was trying to become an ethnic minority autonomous area to get financial support from the central government. There was concern that other areas would follow Fengxian's practice.

Shaanxi government said the new policy violated state regulations. So far no resident has been registered as part of a Qiang minority.

The Qiang ethnic minority population is 306,072, most of whom live in the mountainous Sichuan Province.

(Shanghai Daily January 6, 2009)