Lets start a thread on socio-economic issues and policies in regards to the 55 minorities.
We know that for quite some time now, China has adopted policies benefitting minorities that are not too different from affirmative action policies in the US. Progress has been made but naturally varies from area to area, minority to minority.

I forgot where I read this but only a very few minorities (as an average) achieve income higher than the national average as well as having higher percentages of people entering college. I cannot remember all of them but I do recall Tatars, Chaoxian (Koreans) and Manchus being listed.. but would like to know the total list. I've been unable to find them via google, just region specific ones like Xinjiang where the Tatar and Uzbek minority have higher education rates and income than other Xinjiang minorities i.e Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyzes, etc.

I also recall that some of the ones with higher illiteracy levels and lower incomes tended to be from regions that were not as developed such as Qinghai and Gansu where everyone, Han or non-Han were in similar situations. Dongxiang for example do not have a written language of their own yet and have high illiteracy levels as well as the Salars (both are also very devout Chinese Islamic minorities)

Information from 1990:



"The primary distinction for Tatar and Uzbek is that their numbers are small and that they are primarily concentrated in urban areas. Though their college educational rates are extraordinary compared to the rest of the population (2.7 and 3.7 percent respectively in 1990), there at least 10 other minority groups with higher educational rates in China than the Han (including the Korean, Manchu, Russians, Daur, Xibe, Hezhe, Ewenke, and Oroqen)"

This is again, from 1990. Since then, I've read elsewhere that the Kazakhs and Mongols have now surpassed the national average.

This one is from another source, almost the same although some of the smaller minorities seem to be excluded, and this one mentions more *southern* minorities

Table 1 presents sample enrollment rates tabulated by sex and ethnicity and female-tomale
odds ratios of enrollment tabulated by ethnicity for the sample of rural children
aged 7 to 14 in 1992. The enrollment rates in the first two rows show that in the aggregate,
the educational participation of minorities lagged behind that of the Han. The enrollment
rate for minority girls was 74%, 15 percentage points lower than that for Han
girls. Among school-aged boys, the minority enrollment rate was 84%, compared with
94% for the Han. Enrollment rates close to or exceeding those of the Han were found for
boys among the Mongols, Zhuang, Bouyei, Koreans, Manchus, Dong, Bai, Tujia, and
Kazaks. For girls, rates close to those of the Han were found among the Mongols, Koreans,
Manchus, and Bai. Enrollment rates were the lowest among the Hui and Tibetans,
among whom about three-fourths of the boys but less than half the girls were enrolled.

Group
Males Females Odds Ratios"
Ethnicity N Enrollment Rate (%) N Enrollment Rate (96) (FIM)
Han 102,530 94.23 92,174 88.86 0.49
Minority Subtotal 18,715 84.19 17,691 73.92 0.53
Mongol 1,265 91.46 1,274 89.87 0.83
Hui 3,384 73.88 3,285 45.84 0.30
Tibetan
Uygur
Miao
Yi
Zhuang
Bouyei
Korean
Manchu 1,651 95.94 1,542 94.16 0.68
Dong 177 97.18 121 85.95 0.18
Yao 210 79.52 173 69.36 0.58
Bai 277 93.86 268 88.06 0.48
Tujia 566 92.05 572 83.57 0.44
Hani 123 80.49 116 67.24 0.50
Kazak 182 92.86 157 84.08 0.41
Dai 172 8 1.40 190 84.21 1.22
Other 1,611 83.99 1,580 74.49 0.56
Source: 1992 Survey of Children.
"Odds ratios compare the odds of enrollment (p(enrolLnent)l(l -p(enrol1ment)) for girls (numerator) and boys (denominator

Demography,Volume 39-Number 1, February 2002