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More funds for coal-rich region

By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-24 16:29

The central government will increase its financial support for the Ningxia Hui autonomous region to help develop it as a resource base and a model for circular economies, a senior official said yesterday.

"To support the development of ethnic minority regions is a basic policy of the Communist Party of China (CPC)," He Guoqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the central government delegation to Ningxia, said.

As the country gets stronger and wealthier, so Ningxia will get more central government support, he said.

"Ningxia should be developed as a base of coal resources and the coal-chemical industry. It should also be a base for the electrical power industry and a model for the development of circular economies," He said at the celebration of the region's 50th anniversary in regional capital of Yinchuan.

It is particularly important for the region to protect its environment and conserve energy in its development, he said.

"Ningxia should be an ecological screen to protect the country's western regions," He said.

The autonomous region, which covers about 66,000 sq km, was set up in 1958. It has a population of 6.1 million, of which 2.18 million are Muslims of the Hui ethnic group.

The region is also home to 30.9 billion tons of coal, the fifth largest reserve in the country.

He said the government will also speed up the introduction of supporting laws and regulations for autonomous and self-governing regions to further protect the rights of minority populations.

"The Party's ethnic minority autonomous policies have generated prosperity and harmony in the region," He said.

Ningxia's GDP has grown from 329 million yuan ($48 million) in 1958 to 88.9 billion yuan last year. Over the past 50 years, the per capita annual income for farmers has grown to 3,180 yuan, and to 10,859 yuan for urbanites.

He called on religious figures and groups to play a bigger role in building a harmonious society and to continue to protect ethnic cultures.

To mark the 50th anniversary, the central government delegation on Monday presented Ningxia with a 5-m-high ding, an ancient-style cooking vessel with two looped handles and three legs.

Inscribed with the words "Treasure of Ethnic Unity" written by President Hu Jintao, the ding represents the 1.3 billion people who will unite and work together and create a brilliant future, Vice-Premier Hui Liangyu said in a letter from the central government.

Although yesterday's celebration was shortened because of rain, thousands of people still turned out.

Among them was 83-year-old Reng Shisheng, who said: "I wasn't born in Ningxia, but I've been here for more than 50 years. I witnessed the entire progress it has made. It's marvelous."