The study of minority languages in the People's Republic of China, in the form of organized governmental research since the 1950s, has resulted in the recent publication of more than 50 descriptive grammars. Although some practical purposes of the study were achieved, such as the identification of ethnicity and orthographic design and reform, Chinese linguists were criticized during the Maoist period as being guided by Western bourgeois theories and methods. Such political interventions were detrimental in the past; however, things have gradually been changing for the better since the end of the Cultural Revolution. This paper introduces current research organizations and their major tasks. Most current studies on minority languages in China are carried out by specialists working at institutes for "nationalities," which is the English translation used in China for the notion of "ethnicity." Among the major tasks are the following: examining unstudied/unknown languages or dialects of minority languages; writing or revising descriptive grammars and dictionaries; studying minority language instruction and translation; studying ancient minority language writing systems; and studying mutual influences among languages, bilingualism, and pidginization. Contains 9 references. (LB)