Source: China Daily

07-31-2007 11:20

Special Report:   60th Inner Mongolia Autonomous

For 19-year-old Nali, nothing was more exciting than receiving her acceptance letter from northern China's Inner Mongolia Finance and Economics University.

Different from most other applicants, the girl of Daur nationality from Honghuaerji village in Hulun Buir city was granted admission despite having a score 10 points below the average requirement, due to her status as a minority.

Nali is just one of the region's 4.8 million people of a minority background who have benefited from such preferential policies, which form part of the country's autonomy system for ethnic groups.

With a thriving ethnic patchwork of 55 minority groups, the region is leading the way as China's model for multiculturalism. For instance, minority groups are given priority when applying for jobs, and they are free from the restrictions of the national family planning policy.