A volunteer from North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region teaches two children how to write Spring Festival scrolls using calligraphy. Photo: VCG

North China's Inner Mongolia, the earliest autonomous region in China, has passed its first local regulation to promote ethnic unity. 

The passage of the regulation marks activities themed on ethnic unity becoming legally normalized in Inner Mongolia, which is home to 25 million people from 55 different ethnic groups, such as the Meng, Han, and Hui. 

The regulation made specific provisions to promote ethnic unity and progress in the region. Such activities will be carried out in government departments, enterprises, communities, schools, religious venues and online, it said. 

The regulation was passed by the fourth session of the 13th People's Congress of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency on Sunday night. It will officially be implemented in May this year. 

Maintaining national and ethnic unity is in the highest interest of all ethnic groups and will build a strong and stable defense for the safety of borderlands in northern China.

The regulation also stressed the protection on ethnic culture, including outstanding literature, music, dance, art, calligraphy, opera and traditional repertoires. Emphasis will also be placed on translation and publication of classical documents and books of various ethnic groups. 

The region will reward people and organizations that play a positive role in boosting ethnic unity every five years. 

As part of efforts to enhance ethnic unity, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region will promote courses taught in spoken and written Chinese language, the use of unified national textbooks and ensure all ethnic students can basically understand and use the standard spoken and written Chinese language, the new regulation said. 

Students in the first and second grades of elementary in the region will start using unified Chinese, and morality and rule of law textbooks, and first and second grades of junior middle schools will start using Chinese, history and morality and rule of law textbooks, which will be taught in standard spoken and written Chinese language, according to a notice issued by the region's government on Thursday.

Global Times