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IV. The
Central Government's Support and Assistance for Ethnic Autonomous Areas
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The Constitution stipulates, "The state will do its utmost to
promote the common prosperity of all the ethnic groups." The Law
on Regional Ethnic Autonomy further clearly stipulates it as a legal obligation
that higher state organs should support and assist ethnic autonomous areas
in speeding up their development. To implement the provisions in the Constitution
and the Law on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, the Chinese government has adopted
a series of measures as follows: (1) Giving Prominence to Speeding up the Development of Ethnic Autonomous
Areas While formulating the national economic and social development plan,
the central government gives full respect and consideration to the characteristics
and needs of the ethnic autonomous areas, and gives strategic prominence
to speeding up their development in accordance with the overall arrangement
and general requirements of national development. To accelerate the development
of China's western regions and ethnic autonomous areas, the Chinese government
launched a grand strategy for the development of western China in 2000,
which covers five autonomous regions, 27 autonomous prefectures and 83
of the 120 autonomous counties (banners). In addition, three other autonomous
prefectures are allowed to enjoy the preferential policies the state has
adopted for the western regions. During the five years since the launching
of the strategy of development of the western part of the country, the
construction of 60 important projects has begun, with a total investment
of 850 billion yuan. They play an important role in promoting the economic
and social development of the ethnic autonomous areas. (2) Giving Priority to and Rationally Arranging Infrastructure Projects
in Ethnic Autonomous Areas When making arrangements for infrastructure construction and exploitation
of resources in ethnic autonomous areas, the central government appropriately
raises the proportion of investment and loans from policy banks, and grants
the local areas reduction or exemption from supplementary funding according
to their different conditions. Starting in the period of the First Five-Year
Plan (1953-1957), the Chinese government has arranged a batch of key construction
projects in ethnic autonomous areas, including the Baotou iron and steel
base in Inner Mongolia, Qingtongxia Hydropower Station in Ningxia, petroleum
exploration in Xinjiang and major highways linking Sichuan and Tibet,
Qinghai and Tibet, Xinjiang and Tibet, and main railway lines linking
Baotou and Lanzhou, Lanzhou and Xining, and Lanzhou and Urumqi. In the
1990s, large transport facilities were constructed, including the railway
line between Zhongwei in Ningxia and Baoji in Shaanxi, and the Nanjiang
Railway and Tacheng Airport in Xinjiang. Since 2000, the state has assisted
ethnic autonomous areas to further convert their resource advantages into
economic advantages by investing in the construction of a number of key
projects, such as the West-East Natural Gas Transmission Project, West-East
Power Transmission Project and Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The state has made special arrangements for infrastructure construction
and the development of basic industries in Tibet. From 1984 to 1994, a
total of 43 projects were constructed, with investment from the central
government and assistance from nine inland provinces and municipalities,
totaling 480 million yuan. From 1994 to 2001, some 30 projects were constructed
with a total direct investment of 3.9 billion yuan from the central government,
and 32 projects were completed with investment, totaling 960 million yuan,
from the more developed areas in the east. During the period of the Tenth
Five-Year Plan (2001-2005), the central government has invested 31.2 billion
yuan in 117 projects in Tibet alone. Since 1999, the Chinese government has launched large-scale transport
infrastructure construction programs that were intended to benefit all
ethnic autonomous regions, such as "Outlet Highways for Impoverished
Counties," "Asphalt Roads to Every County in Western China"
and "Inter-County and Rural Highways." Roads in rural areas
and county-level roads totaling 225,000 km have been built or renovated,
with a total investment of almost 100 billion yuan. This has markedly
improved the formerly backward transport conditions in some areas inhabited
by ethnic minorities. (3) Strengthening Financial Support for Ethnic Autonomous Areas With the development of the national economy and the growth in financial
revenue, governments at all levels have gradually increased transfer payments
from the exchequer to ethnic autonomous areas. Through ordinary transfer
payments from the exchequer, special-purpose transfer payments from the
exchequer, transfer payments from the exchequer according to preferential
policies regarding ethnic minorities, and other ways, the central government
has increased the financial input in ethnic autonomous areas to promote
their economic development and social progress, and gradually reduce the
gap between them and the more developed areas. The Chinese government
has established some special-purpose funds, including the "Subsidy
for Ethnic Minority Areas" established since 1955, and the "Stand-by
Fund for Ethnic Minority Areas" in 1964. Moreover, it has also adopted
some preferential policies, such as raising the proportion of reserve
fund for ethnic minority areas, to help ethnic autonomous areas develop
their economies and raise the people's living standards. In the 1980-1988
period, the central budget provided a set-quota subsidy system with a
yearly increase of 10 percent to Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Ningxia
and Tibet autonomous regions, as well as Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai provinces,
which have large numbers of ethnic-minority inhabitants. In 1994, the
central government introduced a structural reform of its financial management
with the focus on a system of sharing tax revenue between the central
and local authorities, but the policies of providing subsidies and special
appropriations to ethnic minority areas have maintained. While adopting
the method of transitional transfer payment in 1995, the central government
tilted its policy toward the ethnic minority areas by adding special provisions
concerning the policy of transfer payments to ethnic minority areas, covering
Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Guangxi, Ningxia and Tibet autonomous regions,
Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai provinces and some autonomous prefectures
of ethnic minorities in other provinces. (4) Attaching Importance to Ecological Construction and Environmental
Protection in Ethnic Autonomous Areas All the four key areas and four key projects included in the National
Ecological Environment Construction Plan of the Chinese government are
in ethnic minority areas. The "Natural Forest Protection Project"
and the projects for converting farming land for forestry and pasture
are mostly in ethnic minority areas. Nearly half of the 226 national nature
reserves are located in those areas, including the Zoige Wetland Nature
Reserve in Sichuan and the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve in Yunnan. In
addition, the central government has launched the "Project for Comprehensive
Improvement of the Environment of the Tarim Basin" in Xinjiang and
the "Project of Protection of the Source of the Three Rivers"
in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai, and attaches great
importance to the ecological improvement of the karst areas in southern
China. (5) Adopting Special Measures to Help Ethnic Autonomous Areas Develop
Education The state helps ethnic autonomous areas universalize nine-year compulsory
education and develop diverse forms of education. Ethnic autonomous areas
are key target areas for the state's plans to basically universalize nine-year
compulsory education and basically eliminate illiteracy among the young
and middle-aged population. The "Compulsory Education Project for
Impoverished Areas" launched by the state is also geared to the ethnic
minority areas in western China. Furthermore, the state also establishes
institutes of higher learning and opens classes and preparatory courses
for ethnic minority students. Institutes of higher learning and polytechnic
schools have lowered admission standards for ethnic minority students,
and give special preference to applicants from ethnic minorities with
a very small population. So far, there are 13 institutes of higher learning
for ethnic minorities in China. In more developed areas there are middle
schools for ethnic minorities and ethnic minority classes in ordinary
middle schools enrolling ethnic minority students. To enhance training
for high-level backbone personnel from ethnic minorities, the Chinese
government has decided, on an experimental basis, to enroll 2,500 students
for Master's and PhD programs from ethnic minority areas in 2005, and
the goal of 2007 is to enroll 5,000 people, thus making the total number
of such students reach 15,000. (6) Strengthening Assistance to Impoverished Ethnic Minority Areas Since the mid-1980s, when the Chinese government launched its large-scale
poverty-alleviation drive in an organized and programmed way, ethnic minorities
and areas they live have always been key targets of governmental aid.
Among the 331 impoverished counties designated as key recipients of state
aid in 1986, 141 are in ethnic autonomous areas, accounting for 42.6 percent
of the total. In 1994, the state began implementing a Seven-Year Program
for Delivering 80 Million People out of Poverty, and among the 592 impoverished
counties designated as key recipients of state aid 257 are in ethnic autonomous
areas, accounting for 43.4 percent of the total. The Outline Program for
Poverty Alleviation and Development in the Rural Areas of China, which
began being implemented in 2001, once again recognized ethnic minority
areas as key targets for assistance. In the 592 counties newly designated
for state poverty alleviation and development, 267 are located in ethnic
autonomous areas (excluding Tibet), accounting for 45.1 percent of the
total. Tibet as a whole has been included as a target for key poverty
alleviation and development from the state. In 1990, the state established the Food and Clothing Fund for Impoverished
Ethnic Minority Areas, aiming primarily at impoverished ethnic minority
counties. In 1992, the state established the Fund for Ethnic Minorities
Development, which is mainly used to deal with special difficulties encountered
in the development of ethnic autonomous areas, and in the production and
lives of ethnic minorities. Since 2000, the state has pursued a drive
known as "More Prosperous Frontiers and Better-off People Action,"
adopting special measures to assist the 22 ethnic minority groups each
with a population of less than 100,000, and focusing on infrastructure
construction and the problem of food and clothing for impoverished people
in frontier regions and ethnic minority areas with small populations. (7) Increasing Input into Social Services in Ethnic Autonomous Areas The state has increased input into health services in ethnic
autonomous areas, to raise the level of medical care for the people of
those areas. In 2003, the central government appropriated special funds
totaling 1.37 billion yuan for health services in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang,
Guangxi, Ningxia and Tibet autonomous regions, which covered such aspects
as public health, basic rural health facilities, specialized hospitals,
rural cooperative medical services and control of serious diseases. In 1998, the Chinese government launched a project to give every
village access to radio and TV broadcasts, providing special-purpose subsidies
to key counties for national poverty-alleviation and development in the
central and western regions, which greatly promoted the development of
radio, film and TV services in ethnic minority areas. By the end of 2003,
with subsidies totaling 450 million yuan, over 70 million villagers in
117,345 administrative villages had gained access to radio and TV broadcasts.
The project covered 54,365 administrative villages in Inner Mongolia,
Xinjiang, Guangxi, Ningxia and Tibet autonomous regions, as well as Qinghai,
Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces, where large numbers of ethnic
minority people live. In 2004, the state launched another drive to make
villages with more than 50 households where electricity was available
to have access to radio and TV. It is estimated that 90,000 more villages
will have access to radio and TV in the next two years, among which 59,000
are in ethnic minority areas. (8) Assisting Ethnic Autonomous Areas to Open Wider to the Outside
World The state grants more decision-making power to production enterprises
in ethnic autonomous areas in managing foreign trade, encourages them
to export local products and implement preferential border trade policies.
It encourages and supports the ethnic autonomous areas to give full play
to their geographical and cultural advantages in expanding their opening
to and cooperation with neighboring countries. In 1992, the Chinese government
launched its frontier opening-up strategy, designating 13 open cities
and 241 first-grade open ports, and establishing 14 border economic and
technological cooperation zones, most of which are in ethnic autonomous
areas. (9) Pairing off More Developed Areas and Ethnic Autonomous Areas
for Aid The Chinese government encourages better-off areas and ethnic groups
to help those that are not well-off yet, and attain common prosperity
this way. Since the end of the 1970s, the Chinese government has organized
the more developed areas along the eastern coast to provide corresponding
aid to western areas and help ethnic minority areas develop their economies
and public services. In 1996, corresponding assistance was made more specific:
Beijing is to assist Inner Mongolia; Shandong, Xinjiang; Fujian, Ningxia;
and Guangdong, Guangxi. As regards Tibet, it receives assistance from
all the other areas of the country. From 1994 to 2001, 15 assistance-providing
provinces, and ministries and commissions under the State Council gave
assistance gratis for the construction of 716 projects, with the input
of funds totaling 3.16 billion yuan (excluding investment from the central
government. Same below). During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period, Tibet
received assistance and grants totaling 1.062 billion yuan from all over
the country for the construction of 71 projects. (10) Giving Care to Special Needs of Ethnic Minorities in Production
and Living
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