A senior Chinese official said on Monday the government's policies on ethnic affairs are "on the right track" and have helped create conditions for equality, unity and common prosperity among the country's different ethnic groups.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, made the remark in his meeting with Luis Alberto Vargas, the President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), who is in China to attend the 16th IUAES World Congress held in China's southwest province Yunnan.

Jia said the living standards of the ethnic groups were rising steadily and their political, economic and cultural rights were well safeguarded.

Jia said the Chinese government had attached great importance to the development of anthropological and ethnological sciences, and would actively promote theoretical studies, innovation and application.

He praised the IUAES for its role in improving worldwide academic research, promoting the peaceful coexistence of different cultures and harmonious development between man and nature.

The IUAES congress, held every five years, has drawn more than 2,000 scholars and experts from all over the world. It will feature 156 panel discussions to explore a broad range of issues, including cultural diversity, AIDS, child trafficking, global aging, ethnicity, urban development, religions and linguistic evolution.

China is hosting the congress, which first met in London in 1934, for the first time.

Yunnan is home to 26 Chinese nationalities.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2009)