Backgrounder: Ningxia Hui autonomous region

YINCHUAN - Celebrations are underway to mark the 60th anniversary of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Here are some basic facts about the region.

As one of the five autonomous regions in China, Ningxia Hui autonomous region was established on Oct 25, 1958.

The region covers an area of 66,400 sq km. It has a population of more than 6.81 million, including about 2.48 million people of Hui ethnic group, 36.31 percent of the region's total population.

Over the past six decades, the region's economy has expanded from 328 million yuan (47.8 million US dollars) to over 345 billion yuan. In 2017, the region's GDP per capita exceeded 50,000 yuan, 290 times that for 1958.

The region's foreign trade volume topped 5 billion US dollars in 2017, 715 times that for 1958. As of 2017, Ningxia has economic and trade relations with more than 180 countries and regions.

Ningxia is rich in coal resources, the proved reserves of coal in the region ranked the 6th in the country.

The wine industry is thriving in Ningxia in recent years. The grape-growing area in the region reached 38,000 hectares, and annual wine output totals almost 100,000 tonnes.

Ningxia has lifted more than 3.3 million residents out of poverty in the past 35 years, but there are still 238,900 people living under the poverty line in the region. The region aims to help poor population shake off poverty by 2020.

Ningxia is famous for its natural landscapes including mountains, rivers, desert, forest, gobi and wetlands, among others. More than 31 million visitors from home and abroad visited the region last year.