Tang Limin, director of the Sichuan Development and Reform Commission, called for greater investment from the government in education for Sichuan province's Tibetan and Yi ethnic areas.

Tang made the remarks on March 4, one day ahead of the opening of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

"Improving the education level of local residents is the fundamental solution to eliminate poverty in Tibet and Yi ethnic regions," said the NPC delegate.

He said although the central and local governments have increased their efforts to improve the educational conditions in local regions in recent years, it is still far from enough.

He also suggested that the central government build more industrial projects in the regions so as to offer more employment opportunities while enhancing the productivity of the areas in Sichuan.

"We should help them to strengthen their self-development capacity instead of relying on government assistance," Tang said.