It's the Chinese people who have a say if the system of regional ethnic autonomy is good or not, and data have proved the system is working and leading the development of ethnic areas, a Chinese official told a press conference on Saturday. 

Xu Yousheng, vice minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks in response to a question if the Chinese central government is tightening its grip on ethnic minorities.

From 2012 to 2020, the regional GDP of China's five autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Tibet, Ningxia and Xinjiang and the three multi-ethnic provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai increased from 5.1 trillion yuan to 10.4 trillion yuan, Xu said. 

Their per capita regional GDP increased from 27,000 yuan to 52,000 yuan, and the urbanization rate increased from 43.1 percent to 55.1 percent. 

"All 31.21 million poor people in ethnic areas have been lifted out of poverty, and 420 national-level poverty-stricken counties in ethnic autonomous areas have been removed from poverty list, achieving overall prosperity together with the whole country," he added.