On the brink of People's Republic of China's 70th birthday, one of its most ethnically diverse regions is celebrating some of the best development numbers of the past seven decades. The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is a coastal region in southern China, with the largest ethnic minority population in the country. CGTN's Wang Hui reports on the remarkable economic achievements the region has accomplished.

Guangxi has the largest ethnic minority population of all of China's provincial-level regions. It has 22-million ethnic minorities, accounting for 40% of its total population. Local governments remain dedicated to the development and solidarity of the different ethnic groups.

CHEN WU, CHAIRMAN OF THE PEOPLE'S GOVERNMENT GUANGXI ZHUANG AUTONOMOUS REGION "We stick to the rules that all ethnic groups are equal, and we work and develop together. We respect the features of the different ethnic groups. We have also made regional laws and regulations to protect their legitimate rights, and we strictly abide by them."

Guangxi has also made remarkable economic achievements. The GDP of the region exceeded two trillion yuan last year. That's about 285 billion US dollars, And it's more than two-thousand times what the GDP was in 1950.

LU XINSHE, SECRETARY GUANGXI ZHUANG AUTONOMOUS REGION CPC COMMITTEE "When the autonomous region was established, the foundation of the industries was extremely weak. But now we have ten industries which yield an annual revenue of more than 100-billion yuan for each, including food, automobile, and machinery."

The service sector has become a new engine for the local economy, especially in terms of finance, information consulting, and e-commerce. The added value of the tertiary industry was more than 900 billion yuan, 13 times that of 1950.

Infrastructure has also grown by leaps and bounds. The high-speed railway lines exceeded 1.7 thousand kilometers last year, ranking first in China's provinces. They connect nearly 90% of the cities in the region, and the provinces around it.

WANG HUI BEIJING "Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is China's only province that borders the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) both by land and by sea, so it plays a special role in China's cooperation with those countries. Guangxi has held China-ASEAN expos, and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 15 times. It's also facilitating the construction of an pilot free trade zone, and ASEAN-Oriented Financial Open Port. It also encourages its enterprises to invest in ASEAN countries, and create a good business environment for those nations' companies. Wang Hui, CGTN, Beijing."