A grand evening party marking the 70th anniversary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is held in Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Aug. 7, 2017. Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, joined the people at the evening party. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)
HOHHOT, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Celebrations are ongoing to mark the 70th anniversary of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the first province-level ethnic autonomous region in China.
Various events to celebrate the anniversary include gala evenings, exhibitions and the Nadam Festival, a traditional event with horse racing and Mongolian wrestling.
China's top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng on Monday presented gifts to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to celebrate the anniversary, while leading a delegation from the central authorities.
The autonomous region was founded on May 1, 1947 under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It is one of the country's five autonomous regions, the others being Xinjiang, Tibet, Ningxia and Guangxi.
Ethnic autonomy in regions, prefectures or counties across the country were introduced to create equality, solidarity and common prosperity of all ethnic groups.
Inner Mongolia covers an area of 1.18 million sq km, about 12 percent of the country's land area. The Mongolian population is 4.6 million, nearly one-fifth of the region's total.
Over the past 70 years, the region's economy has expanded from 537 million yuan (78 million U.S. dollars) to 1.86 trillion yuan.
