Eight provincial regions with large ethnic minority population have seen their GDP per capita increase by more than 50 percent from 2010 to 2013, authorities said on Thursday.

The GDP per capita of the eight regions, including Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous regions, rose from 22,196 yuan ($3,617) to 33,711 yuan in the past three years, Luo Liming, vice minister of State Ethnic Affairs Commission, said at a press conference on Thursday.

Per capita net income of rural residents in those areas grew to about 6,500 yuan, while disposable income for urban residents increased to 22,699 yuan by the end of 2013.

The government attributed the development to three major national programs targeted at minorities and border areas.

Luo said the government has attached great importance to the development of border areas, and aims to achieve political, economic and cultural equality among China's 55 ethnic minority groups.

"The gap between the developed and other [underdeveloped] areas is undeniable. It is because of this gap that the central government is taking more effective measures like the three programs," said Luo.

One of the three programs cited by Luo, the Program to Support the Development of Minorities with Smaller Populations, focused on 2,119 villages inhabited by 28 ethnic minority groups with a population of fewer than 300,000. By the end of 2013, the per capita net income of farmers and herdsmen in those villages was up by 47 percent to 5,179 yuan.