China says it lifted millions from ethnic minority groups out of poverty in the past five years

White paper hailing Beijing’s successes said 15.6 million people in the eight poorest provinces and regions had benefited from the anti-poverty drive

Report does not directly address growing outcry over its actions in Xinjiang, but stresses benefits of economic development for ethnic minority groups

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Many of China’s minorities live in the country’s most remote and impoverished areas. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:00am, 7 Apr 2021Updated: 9:24am, 7 Apr 2021

Over 15.6 million people in the poorest parts of China, including the areas with the highest concentrations of ethnic minorities, have been lifted out of poverty in the past five years, according to a new government white paper.

The report celebrating the country’s achievements in tackling poverty was published as Beijing faces increasing international pressure over its policies in Xinjiang, where it is accused of using forced labour and human rights abuses against the mainly Uygur Muslim population.

The document does not directly address the accusations but said China has achieved remarkable success in helping rural residents from ethnic minority origins to escape poverty.

“[We have made] great strides in our decisive battle against poverty in ethnic minority areas,” the paper said. “From 2016 to 2020, the population living in poverty in Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Tibet, Ningxia and Xinjiang autonomous regions, and Guizhou, Yunnan and Qinghai provinces fell by 15.6 million.”

Earlier this year, the country officially declared that it had eradicated extreme poverty and said it was entering a new phase of economic and social development that would see it become a “modern socialist country” by 2035.