China marks 60th anniversary of 1st autonomous
HOHHOT, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the first of five province-level autonomous regions established in China, celebrated its 60th anniversary with a rally and gala on Wednesday.
About 60,000 people dressed in traditional Mongolian costume attended a grand gathering followed by a gala of dance and song to mark the event in a newly-built sports stadium in Hohhot, the regional capital.
Also present was a 58-member delegation from the central government led by Vice President Zeng Qinghong, who praised the great achievements the region had made since its founding in Ulanhot on May 1, 1947 when it started a new era of practicing the country's policy of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities.
With an area of 1.18 million square kilometers, Inner Mongolia covers 12 percent of China's territory and is the third biggest of the 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on the Chinese mainland.
Its population stood at 23.92 million at the end of 2006, 4.23 million of whom were ethnic Mongolians. Altogether 49 ethnic groups, out of the country's 56, inhabit the region.
Also Wednesday, the central government delegation presented to Inner Mongolia a five-meter-tall, 13-ton bronze "ding", an ancient-style cooking vessel with two looped handles and three legs, which was inscribed with the words "Treasure of Ethnic Unity" written by President Hu Jintao.
"Against the backdrop of repeated ethnic conflicts seen in some parts of the world, China has set a fine example in Inner Mongolia through the implementation of its regional autonomy policy for ethnic minorities to properly treat relations among different ethnic groups, which is believed to be a main factor in boosting the region's rapid development," said Hao Shiyuan, director of the Institute of Ethnic Groups Studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The region's gross domestic product has grown by 18 percent year on year to reach 479 billion yuan (63 billion U.S. dollars) last year. Its economic growth has topped all other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities for five years in a row.
The average life expectancy has risen from 35 years to 70.7 years since 1947.
The annual per-capita disposable income reached 10,358 yuan last year for the region's urban residents, up 13.4 percent year-on-year, and 3,342 yuan for the farmers and herdsmen, up 11.8 percent year-on-year, government statistics show.
The basic rights of people, such as education, medical care and employment, have been guaranteed and the Mongolian language and traditional culture has also been preserved and carried forward, according to Yang Jing, chairman of the regional government.
"The Chinese government has been advocating equal treatment to different ethnic groups while opposing oppression and secession, encouraging mutual respect between the Han nationality and 55 other minority ethnic groups, and taking various measures to advance the economic development in areas where minority ethnic groups are populated, which are vital to the success of its policy on ethnic groups," Hao said।
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This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
A local official said on Wednesday that Inner Mongolia has witnessed social and economic development in this period and people's living standards have been greatly improved.
Our reporter Dan Dan has more.
Established in 1947, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is China's first provincial-level ethnic autonomous region. In the early days of its establishment, most people made a living by farming and life was difficult.Thanks to the support from the central government of China, the autonomous region, which has a population of over 23 million, has experienced rapid development in the past six decades.
Born and raised in Inner Mongolia, 92-year-old Keligeng said he has witnessed tremendous changes.
"In the past, when talking about the economy of Inner Mongolia, we could only think of handicraft workshops or our livestock, like camel, cattle, horse and sheep. Nowadays, our GDP has grown to hundreds of millions of yuan. That's a great difference."
Statistics show in 2006, the total production value of Inner Mongolia reached nearly 480 billion yuan, or 64 billion US dollars. This figure is almost 200 times of that in 1947.
While its economy has realized rapid growth, Inner Mongolia has also seen progress in the education sector.
From pre-school to high education, from compulsory to adult education, Inner Mongolia now enjoys a comparatively sound education system with distinctive local features.
Today, there are more than 1,000 primary and middle schools as well as 21 high education colleges in Inner Mongolia.
No matter from economic or social development, the people of Inner Mongolia have become the biggest beneficiary.
The chairman of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Yang Jing elaborates.
"Last year, the annual salary of citizens in urban and rural areas exceeded 10,000 Yuan and 3,300 Yuan respectively, or 1,300 US dollars and 436 US dollars. During the 10th five-year plan period, which is from 2001 to 2005, some 900,000 herdsmen got out of poverty and more than 400,000 families received subsidies and aid."
Moreover, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has attached growing importance to the protection of its environment, which has, therefore, benefited its pastures।
Prosperity shines in autonomous region
Inner Mongolia is on the fast track to prosperity, thanks to the implementation of the ethnic regional autonomy system, support from the central government and the concerted efforts of the region's people over the past six decades, said Yang Jing, governor of the autonomous region, during a recent news briefing on the 60th anniversary of its founding.
The region has truly witnessed dramatic social and economic progress in the last 60 years, Yang stated.
Before the autonomous region was founded in 1947, Inner Mongolia was an under-developed area with extremely low levels of social and economic development, and an annual gross domestic product (GDP) of only 537 million yuan.
The region is now approaching a rapid and optimized development path. In 2006, Inner Mongolia's GDP reached 479 billion yuan, ranking 17th in the country, compared with 24th in 2000. Its per capita GDP last year was 20,047 yuan, ranking 10th nationwide, compared with 16th in 2000.
During the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05), the region maintained an economic growth rate higher than the national average and it has ranked first in the nation in terms of such growth rate for four consecutive years since 2003.
Last year, the region's crop output amounted to 17 million tons - it is now one of the seven provinces and autonomous regions in the nation to export crops- and the total heads of livestock reached 110.5 million, increasing 10.9 times compared with that in 1947, while its output of milk, mutton and cashmere bested the nation.
While supporting the development of farming and animal husbandry, the Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Inner Mongolia government have worked on speeding up the pace of industrial development as well, setting up some big enterprises during the period of the First Five-Year Plan (1953-57), Baotou Iron and Steel Works among them.
Since the implementation of the opening up and reform policy, especially in recent years, Inner Mongolia has seized the opportunity of developing the western region, as well as other opportunities to ramp up industrial development.
Inner Mongolia is now home to 16 famous Chinese brands, including Erdos, Yili and Mengniu, seven of which each earns revenues amounting to 10 billion yuan a year.
The autonomous region currently has business exchange and cooperation relationships with over 100 countries and regions, with the total value of foreign trade being $5.95 billion in 2006, compared with only $16 million in 1978.
Social development
While making economic progress, the region's insistence on the concept of overall and harmonious development has helped it take great strides forward in politics, culture and social undertakings.
Last year, the average income of urban and rural residents increased to 10,358 yuan and 3,342 yuan respectively, rising from its 2002 positions of 29th and 22nd place in the nation up to the 12th and 16th place respectively.
Great effort has been put into meeting the everyday needs of the poor and disadvantaged groups. According to local government statistics related to the period between 2000 and 2005, 920,000 farmers and herdsmen steadily shook off poverty and more than 700,000 urban residents received minimum living subsistence allowances, while over 400,000 extremely poor peasants and herdsmen received subsidies.
Problems such as the re-employment of members of zero-employment families, college enrollment for poor students, safe water issues of farmers and herdsmen, the improvement of production and living conditions in rural and pastoral areas have also been effectively resolved.
Ethnic unity & prosperity
Inner Mongolia has a long-standing tradition of national unity among all ethnic groups. In the 1950s, then Premier Zhou Enlai eulogized Inner Mongolia as a "model autonomous region".
"The past six decades were also 60 years of ethnic unity and prosperity," Yang said.
The region has made policies to encourage people to learn and speak Mongolian and formulated many other policies favoring the minority national area, which has helped advance the perfection and observation of "The Regional National Autonomy Law". The local governments lay emphasis on training and employing cadre from minority groups.
The percentage of total leaders who are from ethnic minority groups is obviously higher than the percentage of ethnic groups in the total population of Inner Mongolia, as is the percentage of professional staff in different fields of work.
A complete educational system with regional and ethnic characteristics covering preschool to higher education and common education to adult education has been developed.
The percentage of ethnic minority students in the schools is also higher than the percentage of minority groups in the whole population.
In addition, ethnic minority cultural and art, press and publication, health and physical culture have also developed considerably.
Infrastructure & ecology
With the support of the State, the region has made great progress in improving its ecology and infrastructure in the past 10 years, Governor Yang said.
The region has launched a number of ecological construction projects, ranging from natural forest protection to desert control and returning farmland to forests and grasslands.
During the 10th Five-Year Plan (2000-05) period, Inner Mongolia invested 20 billion yuan in ecological improvement, helping restore deserts and sandy area over 250 million mu (16 million hectares).
During the same period, the region invested 146.32 billion yuan in infrastructure construction, 95.79 billion yuan of which went into transportation. Up to the end of 2006, the region's railway and highway lengths had reached 7,970 km and 128,800 km respectively, including a highway that stretches for more than 2,600 km, traversing the region from west to east.
"By the end of the first decade of this century, a vigorous Inner Mongolia, with strong overall strength, rational economic structure, distinguished regional characteristics, and stable and harmonious society will rise in North China," Yang asserted.
(China Daily 08/13/2007 page12)
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