Yunnan Sees Stable Economy DevelopmentBy comprehensively and actively implementing the Party's nationality policy, Yunnan Province has won notable success in its effort to build a stable and prosperous province in China's southern frontier, a gratifying situation characterized by nationality unity, economic development, social progress and frontier stability has emerged in the province.There are 26 ethnic groups living within Yunnan, 15 out of which are unique to Yunnan. Basing themselves on the actual situation of ethnic minorities and the nationality region, the provincial Party committee and the provincial government focus on such three key links as improving and strengthening the infrastructure construction of nationality areas, enhancing elementary education and the vigorous training of ethnic minority cadres, and formulated a series of policies and measures to increase investment and accelerate development. Yunnan has established a reserve fund for minority groups which has increased to over 100 million yuan each year. So far, highway can reach every township and 97 percent of the administrative village now. Four autonomous prefectures and three frontier nationality areas have built airports, making yunnan the province with the most civil airports in China. The nationality area, known as an "area of malaria", has now boasted over 3,200 health organizations and 40,000 sanitation technical personnel. There are nearly 10,000 medical centers of various forms and more than 17,000 village doctors in the administrative villages in autonomous prefectures and counties. The average life span in this areas has increased to about 66.9 years, In terms of nationality education, Yunnan has formulated a series of special policies and measures to strengthen elementary education in nationality areas and to improve the quality of minority cadres. Yunnan has energetically strengthened the training of minority cadres. The provincial finance allocates 1 million yuan each year as a special fund for this purpose. At present, among these officials, 55,071 persons reach a college education level, making up 23.27 percent of the province's total minority officials and the young and mid-aged officials have become the principal part of the minority officials. Beginning from January of this year, the provincial finance will invest an additional tens of millions of yuan each year in the areas inhabited by minorities, injecting greater power for accelerating the development of such areas. |
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