A new policy implemented last week at China's restless Xinjiang province entails a huge amount of money being offered to urge members of ethnic minorities to marry Han Chinese in hopes of subduing unrest in the community.

Chinese Communist party officials believe interracial marriage is the key to conquering ethnic bouts between the Uighur minority group and Han Chinese in Qiemo County.

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The new government policy offers an incentive of 10,000 yuan, or US$1,600, to inspire ethnic minority members to engage in interracial matrimony.

Aside from this, China is offering an annual reward of the same amount for every year those new families stay "harmonious." The total payout, however, is not to exceed 50,000 yuan.

On top of that, education and health care subsidies will be given to inter-ethnic group families, as well as a 5,000 yuan incentive for their children attending college.

Officials see the unions of two people with different beliefs in matrimony as the "great cause of assimilation" which can provide the "ethnic unity" authorities have sought for a long time in the province that has been plagued with clashes between Uighurs and the Han Chinese.

According to a local official surnamed Li, Qiemo is the first to introduce such rewards and "the first in China to roll out detailed preferential policies to encourage inter-ethnic marriage."

Li added that the goal is to alleviate the tensions among ethnic members in the community and pursue "cultural integration among different ethnic groups."

However, the official clarified that the 54 interracial married couples already in record are not eligible to claim the rewards because only new couples who filed after the policy was rolled out will be entitled to the incentive.

Among the 100,000 Qiemo County residents, more than 72 percent were members of the Uighur ethnic group with Han Chinese acxouting for 26 percent of residents.

TagsUighurs, Han Chinese, mixed marriage, education