An Assessment of the Progress in Building a Moderately Prosperous Society for Chinas Ethnic Minorities

Zheng Changde

Abstract：

Based on the census data，this article chooses several proxy indicators to analyze the progress of Chinas ethnic minorities building a moderately peosperous well-off society.The main conclusions are as follows：

Firstly，building a moderately prosperous society in ethnic minority areas has achieved prominent progress since 2000.For instance，if we compare the year 2010 with the year 2000，the degree of urbanization in ethnic minority areas was up 15.81 percentage points； the employment rate in the tertiary industries was up 12.18 percentage points ； the per capita housing area was up 20.32 percentage points； the average life span was up 9.09 percentage points， and average years of schooling was up 10.57 percentage points.However，compared with the total population，except for the average life span，the degree of realization of other indexes was far from the comprehensive standards of being “prosperous”.The gap was especially large in the standards of employment in the tertiary industries，and urbanization.On the other hand，in looking at the change between 2000 to 2010，except that the change of the average years of schooling and average life expectancy were not much different from the whole country，the change of other indicators of the ethnic minorities were much smaller than the changes in those of the total population.Urbanization and the employment in tertiary industries in ethnic minority areas especially lagged much behind the standard of a moderately prosperous society.

Secondly，there still are significant imbalances among the ethnic minority groups with regard to the construction of a moderately prosperous society.In 2010，the all-round degree of building a moderately prosperous society was highest among the Russian，Korean，Uzbeks，and Hezhen ethnic groups.Their degree of realization was over 100%.The degree of realization of the Tatar ，Daur，Jing，Xibo，Ewenki，Hui，Mongolian，Manchu，Mulam，Naxi，and Yugur ethnic groups was between 75% ～ 100%.Those ethnic minorities who mainly live in alpine valleys and high plateau areas，including the Jinuo，Lahu，Pumi，Lisu，Bonan，Achang，Tajik，Nu，Mengba，Dulong，Bulang and Luoba，Deang，and especially those ethnic groups with small populations—their comprehensive degree of realization was low，less than 50%.

Thirdly，in looking at the degree of realization of a moderately prosperous society of the ethnic people in various regions，degree of realization of those ethnic minorities who live dispersed in economically developed areas was relatively high，while the degree of realization of those who live in economically less developed areas was low.If we look at the degree of realization from the various indexes，in the regions where the ethnic minorities are dispersed ，and their population was low，for example in Beijing，Tianjin，Shanghai，Shanxi，Shaanxi and other places，housing was the one index which influenced the building of a moderately prosperous society.In the regions where the ethnic minority live dispersed and the proportion of their population was low，but there was a lot of ethnic minority peasant labor，such as in Zhejiang，Jiangshu，Shandong，Guangdong，Jiangxi and Henan，the most important thing was to improve the housing condition and adjust the employment structure.In other areas where the ethnic minorities live in compacted communities，and the proportion of their population was relatively high，all the indexes were low.Therefore，it is necessary to accelerate the economic development，and expand the construction of basic public services，in order to realize the comprehensive development of society.

In the next 5 years，both the difficulty and significance of constructing a moderately prosperous society are found in ethnic minority areas.The research findings of this article proves that building of a moderately prosperous society has achieved obvious effectiveness.However，in some ethnic minority areas， due to the influence of unfavorable factors of the geographical environment，where a large number of the population is poor，and the degree of poverty is high，the rate of returning to the poverty is high.Hence，it is very difficult to realize the national goal of building a moderately prosperous society.Thus，we must insist upon the ongoing theme of “development”，“accelerating development” or，enabling a “l(fā)eaping development”.Accelerating economic development and realizing the equalization of basic public service supply are the two main themes of economic development in ethnic minority areas.The focus of the government support is to speed up the transformation and upgrade of the industrial structure in the ethnic minorities regions； strengthen the development of the non-agricultural industries，especially tertiary industries，so as to promote urbanization，including integrating the city and the countryside；to accelerate the reform of traditional farming and animal husbandry，modify and improve the competitiveness of agricultural and animal husbandry products and market scope by the use of “Internet Plus”；increase farmers income so as to narrow the gap between city and rural areas； focus on the construction of beautiful rural areas through good planning for rural construction in accordance with the ethnic and regional situations； improve the living conditions of all ethnic people by further improving the quality of life； focus on the construction of rural infrastructure； realize the integration of county and township economy by strengthening the grass-roots economies； focus on strengthening vocational-technical-secondary education in ethnic regions through which the ethnic minority peoples labor skills will be improved based on solidifying basic education，and improvement of the quality of basic education； focus on strengthening the construction of cultural infrastructure of ethnic minority regions through the support of the development of public culture and cultural industries；and promote sustainable transmission and development of excellent traditional cultures of the various ethnic minorities.For those ethnic minorities living in the city，special attention should be paid on improving their housing conditions and their labors employment.

Key Words： ethnic minority； moderately prosperous； census

References：

Zheng Changde.zhongguo shaoshu minzu diqu de houfa ganchao yu zhuanxing fazhan（ Surpassing and Transformation Development of Chinas Ethnic Minority Areas）.Beijing：jingji kexue chubanshe，2014.

Zheng Changde.zhongguo shaoshu minzu diqu jingji fazhan baogao（Economic Development Report of Chinas Ethnic Minority Areas[2013]）.Beijing：zhongguo jingji chubanshe，2013.

Zheng Changde.zhongguo shaoshu minzu diqu jingji fazhan baogao（Economic Development Report of Chinas Ethnic Minority Areas[2014]）.Beijing：zhongguo jingji chubanshe，2014.

Zheng Changde.zhongguo shaoshu minzu renkou jingji yanjiu（A Study on Population Economics of Chinas Ethnic Minority Areas[2015]）.Beijing：zhongguo jingji chubanshe，2015.