Livelihood first: guidelines and policies concerning ethnic trade in the early days of the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

Since its founding, the People’s Republic of China has been committed to promoting the development of ethnic minorities in all aspects, including officials training, governance building, economy and trade, culture, education and health care. Among them, ethnic trade, as an important component of economic work, was elevated to be as important as political work, which embodies the people-centered governance philosophy and the livelihood-oriented development philosophy of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Government of China. The four national ethnic trade conferences held in the 1950s formulated guidelines and policies that secured remarkable results in ethnic trade, which, to a large extent, guaranteed the production and supplies of consumption goods in ethnic areas, increased the income of ethnic minority people, and supported the national construction. It played an active role in eliminating ethnic estrangement and promoting ethnic unity, and effectively improved the identification of the ethnic minority people with the new country.