Chinese President Xi Jinping has said no ethnic group should be left behind in the country's fight against poverty, in its building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and in the drive toward modernization.
Xi made the remarks during his inspection tour in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as the country is expected to eradicate absolute poverty this year.
Xi has visited many underdeveloped areas with a high concentration of ethnic minorities during his inspection tours in recent years. He replied to a letter from people of the Dulong ethnic group last year and issued an instruction on the poverty elimination of the Maonan people this year. Both ethnic groups have shaken off poverty.
Xi's Ningxia tour this week also reminded the public of his visit to the same region in 2016 which saw him talking with villagers about their lives. "There are still some 50 million Chinese struggling with poverty, and by 2020, they must be all lifted out of poverty. This is my top concern now," Xi said during the Ningxia tour four years ago.
The figure was reduced to about 5.51 million at the end of 2019. Some ethnic groups have leapfrogged to development, from the primitive stage to moderately prosperous life.
The remaining task to crack the "hardest nut" in the final push is difficult, especially when China's development faces uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a global recession.
But in a country that upholds people-centered philosophy, the economic and social fallout from the pandemic will not derail efforts to take good care of its people, young and old, women and men, and those of any ethnic identity.
In the homestretch of the world's biggest poverty-relief project, China is making all-out efforts, including making favorable policies, enhancing financial support, enlarging sales of local products and stepping up coordination between the more prosperous eastern areas and less developed western areas.
A basic requirement is to ensure adequate food and clothing, guaranteed access to compulsory education, basic medical services and safe housing for all poverty-stricken people.
When the goal is met this year, it will be the first time in the history of the Chinese nation that absolute poverty is comprehensively eliminated.
That may help explain the result of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.
According to the survey, China tops the 2019 global rankings of the level of satisfaction with government performance, with over 86 percent of the Chinese surveyed expressing satisfaction, far above the global medium of 47 percent.
