China has begun to implement a plan to help poor college students from Tibetan and other ethnic minority areas to complete their study.

China has begun to implement a plan to help poor college students from Tibetan and other ethnic minority areas to complete their study.

The inaugural ceremony was held in Beijing Tuesday and the plan is sponsored by the State Nationalities Affairs Commission (SNAC) and the China Construction Bank (CCB).

The plan, financed at 60 million yuan (8.78 million U.S. dollars), is designed to set up a fund to offer scholarship or subsidies to around 20,000 needy students of minority ethnic groups in five years.

A total of 4,000 students will be subsidized annually with each receiving an annual amount of 3,000 yuan.

Yang Jing, minister of the SNAC, indicated that the implementation of the plan is regarded as vital to training professionals in ethnic minority areas.