Poverty among ethnic minorities and the majority in rural China for the years 2000, 2001 and
2002 is investigated taking a dynamic view and using a large sample covering 22 provinces.
Based on the National Bureau of Statistics’ low income line, almost one-third of the ethnic
minorities experienced poverty during the three years studied while the corresponding
proportion among the ethnic majority was only about half as high. Still, by far most of the poor
in rural China belong to the ethnic majority. The relatively high poverty rates for ethnic
minorities in rural China are found to be due to higher rates of entry than for the majority,
while differences in exit rates across ethnicities are few. To a large extent, ethnic poverty
differences can be attributed to differences in location together with temporary and persistent
poverty in rural China having a very clear spatial character. Poverty is concentrated to the
western region and villages with low average income. Determinants of persistent and
temporary poverty in rural China differ due to location as well as household characteristics.