Only when poor areas become prosperous will China be able to achieve common prosperity and move closer to achieving the goal of building a well-off society, according to Mu Tao, a lawmaker from northwest China's Gansu Province.
Mu, a 24-year-old deputy of the Dongxiang ethnic group to the National People's Congress, said that Dongxiang people are being greatly encouraged by the policy on developing western China.
She said, "In my view, in pursuing that policy, Gansu Province must, first and foremost, seize the opportunity to develop poor areas."
She said, "The Dongxiang Autonomous County and some other undeveloped areas in Gansu are now growing slowly, with the result that some children still cannot afford schooling. I think that the government should spend more on education to enable the children in poor areas to go to school."
"Only this way will we be able to speed up economic growth and achieve prosperity soon," she added.
(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2003)
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