A China Daily Special: Tibetan glory - 55 years and growing

Tibetan Sujia at an eco-friendly agricultural industrial park in Gar county, Ngari prefecture. Sujia checking crop at an eco-friendly agricultural industrial park. Sujia began learning farming techniques at the park in 2017. He now earns a monthly salary of 6,000 yuan ($885.07). - Xinhua

BEIJING, Oct 3 (China Daily/ANN): In the 55th year of the founding of the Tibet autonomous region and implementation of the socialist system, the major achievements Tibet has made in multiple areas is worth noting.

Aiming to develop a moderately prosperous society, Tibet has registered impressive economic growth, with its GDP rising from 327 million yuan ($48.17 million) in 1965 to nearly 170 billion yuan in 2019.

The per capita disposable income of Tibetan residents has risen from 141 yuan in 1965 to 19,501 yuan in 2019.

The local population has increased from about 1.37 million in 1965 to 3.51 million in 2019, with ethnic Tibetans still forming an overwhelming majority.

Meanwhile, the average lifespan of Tibetan people has increased from 35.5 years in the 1950s, to 68 years in 2014 and 70.6 years now, all thanks to economic development.

In the past, difficult natural conditions ensured that Tibet remained poor. In 2010 it was dotted with a wide range of poverty-stricken areas and had the widest range of poverty-stricken areas in China.

Around 32.33 percent of Tibet's inhabitants were poor before the central government launched the targeted poverty-alleviation campaign in 2012.

However, thanks to preferential policies and central funds, 74 counties in Tibet were lifted out of poverty, and extreme poverty eradicated there in 2019.

In the past, difficult natural conditions ensured that Tibet remained poor. In 2010 it was dotted with a wide range of poverty-stricken areas and had the widest range of poverty-stricken areas in China.

Gangma Daje at a Gangsha village of Burang county, Ngari prefecture, ount Kangrinboqe in Burang county. Daje earns a livelihood by offering tourist services at the foot of Mount Kangrinboqe.- Xinhua

Around 32.33 per cent of Tibet's inhabitants were poor before the central government launched the targeted poverty-alleviation campaign in 2012.

However, thanks to preferential policies and central funds, 74 counties in Tibet were lifted out of poverty, and extreme poverty eradicated there in 2019.

Economic development apart, Tibet has built a completely modern education system. The average number of years of schooling there has risen to 9.55.

Since 2012, Tibetan children are enjoying 15 years of free education.

Apart from preferential compulsory education policies, children of farmers and herdsmen in Tibet also get free meals and dormitories in schools, and are exempted from paying tuition fee. Even children from poor families in urban areas get government grants and subsidies.

Ji Taijia, a senior doctor prescribing Tibetan medicine in Beijing, said education is a key factor that helped lift people of his hometown out of poverty.

"I was born in a small village in the 1950s," he said.

"I would have remained there forever had it not been for my education. I studied Tibetan medicine in Qinghai province and became a doctor there before arriving in Beijing in 2003 for my major.

"I hope more youngsters from my hometown can follow my example, receive higher education and move out. That is how the living condition of the Tibetan people will improve while Tibetan culture spreads elsewhere." - China Daily/Asian News Network