China has been a unified multi-ethnic country since ancient times. After the founding of New China, there were 56 ethnic groups identified and confirmed by the central government. Since 55 ethnic groups other than the Han nationality have a relatively small population, they are customarily called "ethnic minorities".

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, all Chinese governments (whether the Han or the central government established by ethnic minorities) had a set of policies and systems on ethnic affairs, but there was no equality among ethnic groups. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Party and the government formulated a set of correct guidelines and policies to solve China's ethnic problems that are suitable for China's national conditions, namely, the policy of ethnic equality, the policy of ethnic solidarity, the policy of regional ethnic autonomy and the policy of common development and prosperity of all ethnic groups. After the founding of New China, according to the wishes of the people in most ethnic minority areas, the Chinese government adopted different methods to gradually implement democratic reforms in ethnic minority areas, which were completed in the late 1950s. This reform abolished all the privileges of the lords, nobles, chiefs and other privileged people, eliminated the old system of people exploiting people and oppressing people, and enabled millions of ethnic minority people to turn over and liberate themselves, gain personal freedom, and become masters of the country and their own destiny. Over the decades since the founding of the People's Republic of China, all ethnic groups in China have forged socialist ethnic relations of equality, solidarity and mutual assistance. Ethnic minorities who have been oppressed and discriminated against for a long time have truly become masters of the country. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, some ethnic minorities whose social forms were still at the end of primitive society, slavery or feudal serfdom before the founding of New China have crossed the historical gap of hundreds or even thousands of years and entered the modern society in just a few decades.

The distribution of all ethnic groups in China is characterized by large mixed living, small concentrated living and interlaced living. There are ethnic minorities living together in Han nationality areas, and Han nationality living in minority nationality areas. This distribution pattern is formed by the interaction and mobility of various ethnic groups in the process of long-term historical development. Although the population of China's ethnic minorities is small, they are widely distributed. Ethnic minorities live in all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the vast majority of county-level units have more than two ethnic groups. Ethnic minorities in China are mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Guangxi, Tibet, Yunnan, Guizhou, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Liaoning, Jilin, Hunan, Hubei, Hainan, Taiwan and other provinces and autonomous regions. Yunnan Province has the largest ethnic composition in China, with 25 ethnic groups.

The system of regional ethnic autonomy is a basic policy adopted by the Chinese government in light of China's actual situation, and it is also an important political system in China. In May 1947, China established the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the first national autonomous region equivalent to the provincial level under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region were established one after another. By the end of 1998, China had established 155 ethnic autonomous areas, including 5 autonomous regions, 30 autonomous prefectures, 120 autonomous counties (banners), and 1256 ethnic townships. Of the 55 ethnic minorities in China, 44 have established autonomous regions. The population of ethnic minorities who exercise autonomy accounts for 75% of the total population of ethnic minorities, and the area of the administrative regions of ethnic autonomous areas accounts for 64% of the total area of the country (Note 1). The number and layout of autonomous areas are basically compatible with the distribution and composition of Chinese ethnic groups.

China's ethnic minority areas are vast and rich in resources. By 1997, the total area of ethnic autonomous areas had reached 6.1629 million square kilometers, accounting for 64.2% of the total area of the country; The grassland covers an area of 300 million hectares, accounting for 75% of the national grassland area. China's five famous natural pastoral areas are all in minority areas; The forest area is 56.48 million hectares, accounting for 43.9% of the national total; The forest stock is 5.249 billion cubic meters, accounting for 55.9% of the country's total; The reserve of water resources is 446 million kilowatts, accounting for 65.9% of the national total (Note 2). In addition, there are a large number of mineral resources, as well as rich animal and plant resources and tourism resources.

After the founding of New China, the Chinese government implemented a more lenient fertility policy for ethnic minorities than the Han nationality. In order to improve the population quality of ethnic minorities and speed up the economic and social development of ethnic autonomous areas, the people's congresses of ethnic autonomous areas in China, in accordance with the spirit of the state that ethnic minorities should also implement family planning, have formulated family planning policies for ethnic minorities in their regions, but their policies are broader than those of the Han nationality. This makes the growth rate of minority population higher than the national average. The results of the five national population censuses show that the number of ethnic minorities in China was 35.32 million on July 1, 1953, 40 million on July 1, 1964, 67.24 million on July 1, 1982, 91.2 million on July 1, 1990, and 106.43 million on November 1, 2000.

After the founding of New China, the Party and the government insisted on the implementation of the policy of national equality and language equality, and the use and development of minority languages have been duly respected and guaranteed by law. The Common Programme and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy adopted at the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference clearly stipulate that all ethnic minorities have the freedom to use and develop their own languages. In the 1950s, the state organized personnel to conduct a comprehensive survey of the situation of minority languages, set up special working and research institutions for minority languages, train specialized personnel in minority languages, help ethnic groups with or without languages, or with characters but incomplete and non universal to create, improve or reform their languages, and promote the use of minority languages in various fields. These national characters are mainly used in bilingual teaching, adult literacy, press and publication and other fields.

China is a country with many religions, including Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, Christianity, etc. Most of the Chinese ethnic minorities have religious beliefs. Some ethnic groups believe in a certain religion in a mass way, such as the Tibetan people believe in Tibetan Buddhism. In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China on the freedom of religious belief of citizens, the Chinese government has formulated specific policies to respect and protect the freedom of religious belief of ethnic minorities and ensure all normal religious activities of ethnic minority citizens. Among the Chinese ethnic minorities who believe in Tibetan Buddhism (commonly known as Lamaism), there are seven ethnic groups: Tibet, Mongolia, Tu, Yugu, Menba, Pumi and Naxi; Dai, Bulang, De'ang and some Wa people believe in Theravada Buddhism (commonly known as Theravada Buddhism); There are 10 nationalities who believe in Islam, namely Hui, Uygur, Kazak, Dongxiang, Baoan, Salar, Kirgiz, Tatar, Uzbek and Tajik; Some of the Yi, Miao, Lahu, Jingpo, Lisu and other ethnic groups believe in Christianity. A small part of the Russian and Ewenki people believe in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In Dulong, Nu, Wa, Jingpo, Gaoshan, Oroqen, Loba and other ethnic minorities, primitive nature worship and multiple beliefs are still maintained. The normal religious activities of the people of all ethnic groups, regardless of their religion, are protected by law. In areas where ethnic minorities live in scattered communities, their right to freedom of religious belief has also been fully respected and protected.