China's top legislature is to review the enforcement of the Law on Regional Autonomy for China's Minority Nationalities in 20 provinces and regions.

Four inspection teams, headed by vice chairmen of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), will travel to 11 provinces and regions from July to September.

The national teams have instructed the standing committees of provincial people's congresses in nine provinces and regions which are not covered by the national inspection scheme to carry out their own reviews.

The review aims to help ethnic minorities solve "practical" problems in the economic and social development of autonomous regions and promote national unity.

It will assess assistance from the government to minority groups and study the promulgation of local regulations in line with the law, said NPC Standing Committee Vice-Chairman Ismail Amat.

The teams should listen carefully to the opinions and suggestions of grassroots cadres and the people, he said.

The ethnic minorities played a crucial role in building socialism with Chinese characteristics and the overall implementation of the law had been satisfactory in the past 22 years, said NPC Standing Committee Vice-Chairman Wang Zhaoguo.

It was the first enforcement review since the law was passed in 1984.

China has 55 ethnic groups and its five autonomous regions are Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the northwest, Tibet Autonomous Region in the southwest and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2006)