BEIJING -- In a document publicized on Monday, the central government promised "great effort" to cultivate and appoint more officials from minority groups and to ensure they were given "full trust".

The document -- "Opinions on Strengthening and Improving Ethnic Work under the New Situations" -- noted that special attention should be paid to the cultivation of intellectuals in ethnically-diverse regions, especial those from minority backgrounds.

"Vigorously foster, audaciously select, fully trust and use officials from ethnically-diverse [backgrounds], and cultivate experienced Han officials in ethnically-diverse regions," said the guideline, which was jointly released Monday by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council.

The document called on ethnic minority officials to master Mandarin Chinese, while urging Han officials, the dominant ethnic group in China, to learn the local dialect of the area where they work.

Stressing an overall language education boost in ethnic regions, the guideline encouraged favorable policies for bilingual teachers who can teach students to "basically master" Mandarin Chinese while fully respecting and ensuring education in the local tongue.

China boasts 56 ethnic groups which speak more than 80 languages. Ethnic autonomous areas account for 64 percent of the country's total land territory.