Over 90% radio, TV coverage in ethnic minority areas

More than 90 percent of China's ethnic minority areas have access to radio and television programming, according to Dainzhub Ongboin, vice director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC).

Ethnic autonomous areas currently have 73 radio stations and 90 TV stations providing programming in both standard Chinese and ethnic languages, he said at a press conference.

He also discussed the growth of the Rural Library Project, launched in 2007 in Tibet to improve access to reading materials for local residents.

A total of 106.6 million yuan (16.9 million U.S. dollars) has been spent on the project thus far, with 5,331 libraries serving more than 92 percent of the autonomous region's villages, Dainzhub Ongboin said.

"Of the allocated books, 80 percent are in the Tibetan language," he said. "The libraries have been an effective solution for the problems locals have had in using libraries and reading."

According to the SEAC, 515 cultural items belonging to ethnic minority groups have been listed as national intangible cultural heritage, accounting for 42 percent of the total since the project was launched in 2003.