The district of Drung in the mountainous county of Gongshan in southwestern Yunnan province was connected to the mobile phone network on Saturday -- the last of 55 ethnic minority regions to be hooked up, said Xinhua news agency.

"The connection of the network has created good conditions for the Drung community to grow prosperous along with the rest of the Chinese people," Xinhua said.

The district has a population of 3,990 spread over an area of 2,000 square kilometers (781 square miles) and is one of the poorest areas in the country, the agency said.

The county, which borders northern Myanmar, lies about 500 kilometers (313 miles) from Yunnan's capital city Kunming.

The Drung ethnic group, with a total population of only 5,816, is one of the smallest ethnic minorities in China.

(China Daily October 4, 2004)