China's ethnic autonomous areas have achieved rapid economic growth and obvious rise of living standards, says a white paper issued by the Information Office of the State Council Monday.

The white paper titled Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China says that in 2003, the GDP of China's ethnic autonomous areas reached 1,038.1 billion yuan (125 billion US dollars), exceeding 1,000 billion yuan for the first time.

From 1994 to 2003, the GDP of the ethnic autonomous areas grew by an average of 9.87 percent annually, which was nearly one percentage point higher than the national average.

The proportion of the GDP of the ethnic autonomous areas in the national total rose from 8.5 percent in 1994 to 8.9 percent in 2003. In 1994, the per-capita GDP of the ethnic autonomous areas was 63.5 percent of the national per-capita average. In 2003, the percentage rose to 66.3 percent.

Also in 2003, the local revenue of the ethnic autonomous areas reached 67.4 billion yuan (8.12 billion US dollars), 3.3 times over that of 1994, says the white paper.

In 2003, the GDP of Xinjiang was 187.761 billion yuan (22.62 billion US dollars), accounting for 1.60 percent of the national total, and an increase of 0.06 percentage points compared with 1993; the GDP of Tibet was 18.450 billion yuan (2.22 billion US dollars), accounting for 0.16 percent of the national total, and an increase of 0.04 percentage points compared with 1993.

In the same year, the per-capita GDP in Xinjiang was 9,700 yuan, equivalent to 106.58 percent of the national per-capita average; and the per-capita GDP in Tibet was 6,871 yuan, equivalent to 75.5 percent of the national per-capita average, says the white paper.

In 2003, the per-capita net income of rural residents in ethnic autonomous areas was 1,895 yuan, 2.31 times that in 1994. The per-capita net income of rural residents in Xinjiang and Tibet were 2,106.19 yuan and 1,690.76 yuan, respectively, equivalent to 80.32 percent and 64.48 percent of that of rural residents nationwide.

In 2003, the housing conditions of the residents of the ethnic autonomous areas continued to improve. The per-capita housing space in urban areas was 19.8 sq m, and that in rural areas was 22.9 sq m.

The balance of various kinds of savings in ethnic autonomous areas was 1,175 billion yuan (141.56 billion US dollars), of which those of the residents of both urban and rural areas at the end of the year was 735.3 billion yuan (88.59 billion US dollars), four times that in 1994, according to the white paper.