Over 700,000 ethnic minorities in China's Yunnan cast off poverty

More than 700,000 residents belonging to 11 ethnic minority groups in south China's Yunnan Province have bid farewell to poverty, the provincial poverty relief office said.

The poverty headcount ratio of ethnic minorities dropped to 2.41 percent in 2019 from 26.69 percent in 2014, official data showed.

The 11 groups refer to minority groups with relatively small populations and those called Zhiguo. The term Zhiguo refers to minority groups who, before modernization, had lived in relative isolation and skipped the transition period associated with feudal monarchy.

The province has invested about 34.4 billion yuan (4.88 billion U.S. dollars) in anti-poverty efforts, which has resulted in a total of 707,500 people being lifted out of poverty over the years.

Besides thriving local industries, the living conditions for those mainly inhabiting border and mountain valley areas have been greatly improved as well, according to the office.

Editor: John Li