A reference to deeply impoverished ethnic minority regions: ‘three districts’: the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetan minority-inhabited areas in Gansu, Qinghai, Yunnan and Sichuan; plus a set of four districts in southern Xinjiang; ‘three prefectures’ of smaller minority groups, including Sichuan Liangshan (the Yi), Yunnan Nujiang (the Lisu), and Gansu Linxia (the Hui). In all, a total 344 counties in these regions and prefectures are currently identified as in ‘deep poverty’, with over 11 percent of inhabitants living under the poverty line. (Note: the national average is 3.1 percent.) In November 2017, State Council issued a major document mobilising assistance to these regions, noting that ending poverty in these areas is essential to meeting 2020 national poverty alleviation targets.