China follows the policy that all ethnic groups are equal and all minority ethnic groups enjoy special protection. The people of all minority ethnic groups not only enjoy the same rights offered by China's Constitution and laws as the Han nationality, but also enjoy special rights designated for minority ethnic groups.

The minority ethnic groups enjoy the right to participate in administration the affairs of the country and of their own groups. All the 55 minority ethnic groups have their own deputies to the NPC and members in the Ninth national Committee of the CPPCC. The minority ethnic groups, with their aggregated population accounting for 8.98 per cent of the total of China, have 428 deputies, or 14.37 per cent of all NPC deputies, and have 257 CPPCC members, or 11.7 per cent of the total.

China has instituted a system of regional autonomy in areas inhabited by minority ethnic groups. Sixty-three more such areas have become autonomous in China since 1978.

Today, China has five autonomous regions, 30 autonomous prefectures, 120 autonomous counties or banners, and more than 1,200 townships of various minority ethnic groups.

Among China's 55 ethnic minority groups, 45 have set up autonomous areas of their own. The population of ethnic minority groups in these areas makes up 75 per cent of the total population of China's ethnic minorities.

The system of regional ethnic autonomy has granted all ethnic minority groups the right to fully govern the affairs of the autonomous areas and their respective ethnic groups.

According to the Law on Regional national Autonomy, the chairman or vice-chairman of the standing committee of local people's congress of the autonomous areas should be a member of the ethnic minority group.

Heads of all autonomous regions, prefectures and counties should be members of the respective ethnic group. Other members of the people's government of an autonomous region are also to be made up, as far as conditions permit, by members of a local ethnic group.

The number of officials with ethnic minority background is 2.5 million in China today. In 1998, Tibetan officials made up 74.9 per cent of the total number of officials in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

By offering policy preferences as well as support in funds, technologies and skilled professionals, the central government has promoted economic development and social progress, and improved the living standards in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities.

Statistics show that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the regions mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities across the country increased to 708.7 billion yuan (US $ 85 billion) in 1997 from 1978's 32.4 billion yuan (US $ 3.9 billion), a 21 - fold increase and an annual growth rate of 10.9 per cent, which was even 1.1 percentage points higher than the national average.

The 1997's GDP per capita of these regions, 15 times more than that of 1978, increased to 4,053 yuan (US $ 488.3) from 247 yuan (US $ 29.8) . The average net annual income of farmers in these areas increased by more than 11 times, to 1,482 yuan ((S $ 178.6) in 1997, up from 1978s 120 yuan (US $ 14.5) . The disposable income of urban residents grew by nearly 12 times to 4,818 yuan ( US $ 580.5) in sharp contrast to 1978's 375 yuan (US $ 45.2).

In recent years, the fixed financial subsidies to the Tibet autonomous to the Tibet Autonomous Region by the central government surpassed 1.2 billion yuan (US $ 144.6 million) annually. The central government invested more than 40 billion yuan (US %$ 4.8 billion) in Tibet during the period from the 1950s to 1997. Meanwhile a great amount of goods and materials were transferred to Tibet.

In 1984 nine provinces and municipalities aided Tibet by undertaking 43 construction projects. The central government and various regions across the country in 1994 again provided free aid to Tibet for 62 projects, with a total investment of 4 billion yuan (US $ 482million). To date, the construction of 60 the 62 projects have been completed.

The aid and support from the rest of the country has greatly accelerated the economic development in Tibet and remarkably improved the life of the people there.

According to statistics, the economy of Tibet has been developing at an average annual growth of 12.9 per cent over the past five years. And the economic growth rate of Tibet has surpassed that of the national average for the past two years.

Local farmers and herdsmen's annual income reached 1,150 yuan (US $ 139) on average in 1998. The income per capita of urban residents last year surpassed for the first time the national average and reached 5,130 yuan (US$ 618).

The average living area for urban residents in Tibet was 14 square metres, almost 5 square metres more than the national average. The figure was more than 20 square metres in rural areas of Tibet, about the same as that in other rural areas across the country.

The population of Tibet grew to more than 2.4 million in 1998, up from around 1 million before the democratic reform of Tibet four decades ago. In this period the average life expectancy has been extended by 30 years.

The ethnic minorities' right to education and culture has been guaranteed. The number of ethnic minority teachers increased to 833,200 in 1997 compared with 433, 000 in 1978. In the same period, the number of ethnic minority students enrolled in schools at different levels increased from 10.248 million to more than 29 million. The proportion of ethnic minority students is, respectively, 6.8 per cent in colleges, 6.7 per cent in middle schools and 8.9 per cent in primary schools.

As high as 97.6 per cent of school - aged children attend primary schools in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and seven other major ethnic minority provinces and regions.

College graduates now come from 55 ethnic groups, and in more than 10 ethnic groups the number of college students per 10,000 persons has gone beyond the national average.

In old Tibet, there were no schools in the modern sense and the illiteracy rate was as high as 97 percent.

By 1998, 4,265 schools at all levels had been set up in the Tibet Autonomous Region and the illiteracy rate has dropped by 47 percentage points.

The literacy rate in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is now above 96 per cent, 2 percentage points above the national average.

China emphasizes the protection of the rights of the ethnic groups to enjoy their traditional cultures and religious beliefs. In China, the rights of the ethnic minorities are guaranteed by the law to both use and develop their languages, to preserve or reform their customs and cultures, and to believe in religions as they wish.

Statistics show that the bilingual education in Chinese and other ethnic languages is practiced in more than 10, 000 schools at all levels. Currently, lessons are given in more than 60 ethnic languages.

There is also bilingual education in middle schools and primary schools in Tibet, and departments or courses in the Tibetan language have been established in colleges and vocational school in Tibet.

The fine Tibetan traditional culture has been carried forward and developed. Currently there are over 50 research institutes nationwide studying Tibetan culture involving thousands of researchers.

The work to systematically investigate, collect, compile and publish the traditional cultural heritage of Tibet on a large scale is continuing.

Abundant traditional Tibetan classics have been compiled and preserved. The Tibetan People's Publishing House has compiled and published classics covering Buddhist scripture, Tibetan pharmacology, the Tibetan calendar, history, biographies and literature.

The Tibetan Library alone has collected and compiled over 100,000 volumes of Tibetan classics. The Tibet Autonomous Regional Government has set up a bureau to compile the Tibetan epic King Gesar. Over 50 million words have been compiled and more than 30 books have been published on this epic.

Large numbers of rare cultural relics have been put under full protection. After renovating Potala Palace, the regional government allocated 26 million yuan (US # 3.13 million) to complete a similar project at Gandan Palace in October 1997.

The health care conditions for ethnic minorities have been greatly improved. A basic medical and public health network now covers the whole of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

By the end of 1997, Tibet had 1,324 medical and health establishments, 6,246 hospital beds (2.5 beds per 1,000 people) and 10,929 medical professionals (184 doctors per 100,000 people).

The Ningjxia Hui Autonomous Region now has 476 medical and health establishments, averaging 515 doctors per 100,000 people. The government fund for per capita medical care is 19.51 yuan (US $ 2.35). The rates of growth of medical establishments, the ration of doctors to residents and government fund for medical care compared with the figures in 1957 are 51.59 per cent, 213.41 per cent and 2,923.14 per cent, respectively. The lack of medicine in poor rural areas has been totally eradicated.