The authors examine the different factors explaining poverty, the relationship between poverty and ethnicity, poverty indicators that permit a comparison between minorities and non-minorities (or the Han majority), economic and demographic characteristics of minorities and their educational, occupational and gender profiles. They consider whether special measures in favour of minorities introduced by the Chinese government have contributed to an improvement in their standard of living. gives original research findings and new thinking on a highly topical issue in Chinese development economics, and fills a gap in the existing economic literature.