DEVELOPMETN AND PROGRESS IN XINJIANG（Part three）

Ⅴ. Upholding Ethnic Equality and Unity
The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is multiethnic region. According to the fifth national census in 2000, it is home to 55 ethnic groups including the Uyghur, Han and Kazak. In 2008, it had a population of 21.308 million, 12.945 million of whom were of ethnicities other than the Han, representing 60.8% of the total. In 2007, three ethnic groups in the region had a population over one million each. They were the Uyghur with a population of 9.651 million, the Han, 8.239 million, and the Kazak,     

Migrant Workers： Urban Underclass

ACCORDING to official statistics, there are now 130 million (equivalent to half the American population) migrant workers in Chinese cities. This means that China has more migrant than urban workers, and that they constitute the main Chinese industrial workforce. To those familiar with China, this phenomenon is an important signal for social change. The term farmer carries quite different connotations in China from what it does in the West, where farming is a profession taken up by well-educated people and involves large-scale mechanical production. Also known as agricultural industrial workers, fanners have a social status equal to that of urban dwellers. In China, being a fanner is synonymous with low social status. Chinese fanners have a comparatively poor education and live on a small patch of farmland (per capita farmland is less than 1 mu, 1 mu = 1/15 hectare). Some farmers work in non-agricultural industries, or go to cities as migrant workers, but do not enjoy the same political rights and social     

Redefining Unemployment Statistics

<正>Rural migrant workers are counted in China’s official urban unemployment rate Rural migrant workers are a major work force in Chinese cities. Their employment is usually temporary and sensitive to economic fluctuations.     

Zhejiang Keen to Protect Migrant Workers＇ Rights and Interests

EDITOR'S NOTE: Following are some of the stories about how migrant workers' rights and interests are protected in Zhejiang, one of the best developed province on the Chinese mainland. Through interviews with more than 100 migrant workers in the province, we found that migrant workers there enjoy equal treatment as their counterparts registered as urban residents, and that their rights and interests are effectively protected.     

Care and Concern for Left-behind Children

NOWADAYS large numbers of young rural residents move to cities in expectations of better work opportunities. Statistics show that there are 230 million migrant workers in China - a figure that implies a huge population of so-called left-behind children     

Diverse Xinjiang

Xinjiang is China's largest provincial-level administrative region. Covering an area of 1.6 million square kilometers, there are eight countries along its 5,600-kilometer border. According to archaeological findings, human habitation began here in the Neolithic Age. Xinjiang was a main aspect of the Old Silk Road that traversed the region 2,000 years ago, and instrumental in linking the East and West. Migration from Central Asia and intermarriage brought about complex ethnic relationships culminating in the 13 ethnic groups that today inhabit this region of diverse culture and topography.     

Diverse Xinjiang——The Western Regions

Xinjiang is China‘s largest provincial-level administrative region. Covering an area of 1.6 million square kilometers, there are eight countries along its 5,600-kilometer border. According to archaeological findings, human habitation began here in the Neolithic Age, Xinjiang was a main aspect of the Old Silk Road that traversed the region 2,000 years ago, and instrumental in linking the East and West. Migration from Central Asia and intermarriage brought about complex ethnic relationships culminating in the 13 ethnic groups that today inhabit this region of diverse culture and topography,     

Disaster of the Earth

The new generation of migrant workers are seeking a better lifestyle in the cities Like many migrant workers,Xu Xiaojun,a 25-year-old kitchen cabinet installer who came to Beijing in 2001 from a small village in central     

PEOPLE

"We can see that migrant workers’ wages are growing,that’s why they feel happier about life. However,the social participation situation is not getting any better."Hu Ping,a professor of psychology at Renmin University of China,responding to a survey jointly conducted by the university and Job.gzh.com. which said more than half of polled migrant workers constantly have negative feelings,including loneliness,isolation,and worthlessness     

New Dreams,New Troubles Haunt New-Wave Migrants

They are rural according to their residential registration books, but in the real world, they are city birds. Many of the new generation of migrant workers joined their parents at an early age; others were simply born in the cities where their parents labored for a better life. Having grown up in their adoptive urban home,     

Ethnic Culture Blossoms In Xinjiang

<正>Founded six decades ago,Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is one of China’s five autonomous regions designated for ethnic minorities,inhabited by 47 ethnic groups including Han,Uygur,Kazak,Hui,Mongolian,Kirgiz,Uzbek and Russian populations.The region boasts a treasure trove of ethnic cultures.People of all ethnic groups are able to uphold their cultural practices and live together in harmony.In ancient times,Xinjiang was one of the hubs connecting the West and the East,with the famed Silk Road passing through it.It’s geographic location which has made Xinjiang so accommodating of a diverse range of traditions.In early 2003,China launched a program to protect and preserve ethnic cultures and folkways.At various levels of government,a lot of work has since been done to protect the traditions and cul-     

What About Education in Xinjiang？

Arecent trip to westernand northern Xinjianggave me the chance togauge the real situationas regards education inthe region. Xinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion covers one-sixth of China's totalterritory and its population encompasses47 of China's 56 ethnic groups. MuslimUygurs predominate, closely followedby Kazaks, also Muslim. Xinjiang'sfamily planning policy allows ethnicminorities in both rural and urban areasto have three children, but if all three areboys or girls, a couple may have a fo…     

Scenes From Xinjiang

A group of photographers made an art odyssey to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year, exploring its natural beauty and the colorful lives of the people there.Fifty-six ethnic groups, including Uygur, Han and Kazak, live in Xinjiang, making it one of the regions with the most ethnic groups in China.     

ECONOMY

正Job Assistance The local authorities should provide targeted employment assistance to prevent people from falling back into poverty due to the epidemic, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the State Council Leading Group Offi ce of Poverty Alleviation and Development said in a circular released on February 24.Arrangements will be made so that migrant workers can return to work in a safe and orderly manner.Companies, poverty alleviation workshops and farmland irrigation projects should resume operation at the earliest in less affected regions.Allowances will be given to key enterprises that give preference to qualifi ed poor workers in recruitment. Impoverished workers taking up temporary posts related to     

Equality and Self-government For Ethnic Minorities

The Chinese Government has always been keen to promote human rights in the interest of the country's 55 ethnic minority groups, regarding this as vital to promote the country's human rights cause as a whole. Following is an interview with Li Dek Su, an ethnic Korean who serves as minister in charge of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. We hope that the interview will help give a better idea of the country's policies toward ethnic minorities and the achievements made under such policies.     

马背上的新疆

The ethnic groups of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, including the Uyghur, Kazakh, Kirgiz and Mongol peozple, have created many colorful and interesting horseback sports. These have become an essential part of grassland culture.     

Far Out,Way In

Minority students from remote places in Xinjiang flock to more developed regions for a short at better education In the vast and sparsely populated Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China’s northwest more than half of the residents are members of minority ethnic groups with native languages other than Mandarin Chinese. Education is complicated by the region’s linguistic, geographic and socioeconomic conditions. "In my hometown,educational resources are scarce and dropout rates are very high," said Merhaba,a 13-year-old Uygur girl from Kashgar Prefecture."Almost all my cousins dropped out after middle school or even primary school. My brother and I are the only ones to go out of Kashgar for education." Merhaba is a student at No.66 Middle School in Urumqi,the capital city of Xinjiang.Her exam scores earned her admission to the elite     

Help for Xinjiang or A Knockout Blow?

Born and growing up in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, I felt a sense of unfairness between the Han people like me and the ethnic minority groups living there. Many of my classmates from the ethnic minorities had at least one sibling, but most of the Hans didn't. Though the one-child policy prevailed at that time, the ethnic minorities were exempted.     

Thoroughly Modem Migrants

Chinese migrant workers have made the cover of 17me magazine for their role in promoting China＇s development. They have dreams and pursuits like you and I, and they long to blend into cities and become part of modem society. These citizens and their aspirations are getting the respect and concern they deserve. As this issue goes to press, the Chinese people are celebrating the 61st anniversary of the founding of the PRC, and this special report on migrant workers takes a closer look at the lives and inner realities of the generation that will pose a challenge to the country＇s social institutions and services.     

Economy

正Urban and Rural Pensions Unii ed The State Council recently declared that China would establish a unified pension system for urban and rural residents,combining the New Pension System for Rural Residents with OldAge Insurance for Urban Residents.According to Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Hu Xiaoyi,the country’s migrant workers will benefit most from