Yanbian marks 60th anniversary of its founding

2012-09-03 19:53

By (chinadaily.com.cn)

Yanbian marks 60th anniversary of its founding

Introduction

The Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture in Tumen city, Northeast China's Jilin province marked the 60th anniversary of its founding on Sept 3, 2012.

The prefecture, founded Sept 1952, is the largest region where ethnic Koreans live in compact communities and the only minority prefecture in northeast China. Of the 2.19 million residents in Yanbian prefecture, some 798,000 are ethnic Koreans.

The prefecture borders Russia in the east and is separated from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea by the Tumen River in the south. It shares a 522 kilometer border with the DPRK.

After 60 years of development, it transformed itself form an underdeveloped, poor region into a prosperous frontier in China’s opening-up, with the regional GDP increasing by 60 times and fiscal revenue increasing by 4,341 times.

The logo (top)of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture is based on the seven vibrant colors and simple lines, popularly used in traditional Korean costume.

Ben Ben(bottom), the mascot of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture, is created to show the prefecture’s aspiration for further development. The Chinese pictographic character Ben is a pyramid of character Niu, meaning ox in Chinese.

Unity

The unity of different ethnic groups in the prefecture can be traced back to War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The local government also attached importance to fostering the ethnic unity by organizing the annual "Ethnic Group Unity Awareness Month" in Sept and a grand ceremony to commend role models every five years. The prefecture enforced laws and regulations to streamline the affairs, with a focus on training leaders from ethnic group.

Now, officials from ethnic groups account for 45 percent of all officials. Since 2008, the prefecture arranged 700 ethnic Korean college students to work at grassroots level, paving a way for their further promotion. Furthermore, in recent years, the prefecture supported new initiatives to build the community, such as the "neighbor festival" to promote mutual understanding and care.

Yanbian marks 60th anniversary of its founding

Keep improving people's well-being

Photos show a shantytown before and after reconstruction	Photos show a building before and after a reconstruction

Place, people and prosperity

Yanbian has registered average annual growth of 9.5 percent.The rapid economic development has enabled the government to allocate more funds to improve local infrastructure. A view of eight counties and cities in Yanbian.

Yanbian is among the autonomous prefectures with the best transport facilities, said Li Longxi, head of the prefecture. A slide of main customs

Yianbian has witnessed rapid agricultural and industrial development. It transformed itself form an underdeveloped, poor region into a prosperous frontier in China’s opening-up, with the regional GDP increasing by 60 times and fiscal revenue increasing by 4,341 times.