China supports use of ethnic minority languages

China supports the use of ethnic minority languages amid the nationwide promotion of standard Chinese, the vice director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC) said Thursday.

SEAC Vice Director Dainzhub Ongboin made the remark in response to a question at a press conference, adding that all minority groups have the lawful right to use and develop their own languages.

In January 2012, authorities launched five software applications designed to further promote and standardize the use of minority languages.

The programs include electronic dictionaries for the languages of the Yi and Zhuang ethnic groups, a proofreading tool for the Zhuang ethnic language and transcoding applications for languages used by the Tibetan, Uygur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz ethnicities, according to the SEAC.