A performance is staged during the launch ceremony for Beijing’s publicity month on fostering a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation and the Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress at Beijing Garden Expo Park on April 29, 2026. Photo: VCG

China's Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law officially took effect on Wednesday, with multiple regions in the country introducing measures to implement it, including ethnic autonomous regions such as Inner Mongolia and Xizang, as well as ethnic autonomous prefectures, counties and townships.

The law helps further clarify China's position and approach on ethnic affairs, promotes ethnic unity and common development, and provides a stronger legal basis for advancing the building of the Chinese national community, Wang Jiang, deputy director of the Institute of China's Borderland Studies at Zhejiang Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

China's National Ethnic Affairs Commission said on Tuesday that local government departments in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region had put forward 23 specific measures to promote the study, publicity and implementation of the law. The measures cover legal education, implementation of the law, and coordination among relevant departments to ensure that the law is carried out effectively.

According to the commission, Inner Mongolia will organize study and publicity activities to foster a sound atmosphere of respecting, studying, observing and applying the law. The region will also strengthen the alignment between institutions and regulations, review relevant local regulations, government rules and normative documents, and promote revisions to local regulations related to ethnic unity and progress.

The measures also include pushing the revision of regulations of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on promoting ethnic unity and progress, promoting extensive interaction, exchange and integration among all ethnic groups, and steadily advancing common modernization among all ethnic groups.

In Xizang Autonomous Region, local government departments have also introduced 20 measures to promote the law's implementation. The regional ethnic affairs department said the measures are designed to create a sound legal environment for safeguarding ethnic unity, improve institutional systems and strengthen legal guarantees.

The relevant measures in Xizang also focus on the development of all ethnic groups, including coordinating infrastructure construction, public services, border stability and border-area development. They also call for solid efforts to promote the shared modernization of all ethnic groups and to integrate the study, publicity and implementation of the law into the daily production and life of people of all ethnic groups.

The implementation of the law comes after it was adopted at the annual session of the National People's Congress in March. The law contains chapters on building a shared spiritual home, promoting interaction, exchange and integration among all ethnic groups, advancing common prosperity and development, and strengthening guarantees and supervision.

On June 24, Vice Minister of Justice Hu Weilie said China's provision in its Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law holding organizations and individuals outside the country legally accountable for engaging in ethnic separatism is justified, lawful and necessary, according to Xinhua News Agency.

"We also firmly oppose all acts of smearing, suppression, infiltration and sabotage targeting China under the guise of ethnic, religious, human rights, or other issues," Hu said.