Ethnic minorities still facing discrimination: senior legislator

People from certain ethnic groups have experienced discrimination in security checks at airports or border controls outside ethnic areas in recent years. Some hotels or shops even turned them away. Such behavior has damaged ethnic relations and created a bad social impact, a senior legislator said.

"Although the State Council and other authorities have issued several documents urging inspections to correct such behavior, the problems still exist," Qiangba Puncog said when delivering a report to the National People's Congress Standing Committee during its latest session on Tuesday.

The report came after the Standing Committee's inspection on the implementation of the law of regional national autonomy between July and September in 2015. It was the Standing Committee's second inspection on the matter in 31 years.

Qiangba Puncog also said ethnic areas are facing great challenges in achieving China's goal of building a well-off society on schedule because the economic foundation of ethnic areas is weak and the economic growth is much slower there than in developed areas.

Of the 14 areas currently experiencing exceptional poverty in China, 11 are in ethnic regions, he added.