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Tibet by the numbers shows robust economic and social progress
Source: Xinhua |
March 31, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Beijing-based China Tibetology Research Center published a comprehensive report on Tibet's economic and social development yesterday, outlining the region's changes over the past 50 years through facts and figures.
The authors said the aim was to provide a reference for policy makers working on further development of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Tibet's per capita gross domestic product was 13,861 yuan (US$2,029) last year, a giant leap from the 142 yuan in 1959 when the central government began democratic reform there.
Although the 2008 figure was far lower than the national average of 22,698 yuan, it should be taken into account that economic growth started from a very low level.
The report attributed the robust economic development to the central government's fiscal transfer payment and input for projects, as well as assistance from more-developed inland provinces and cities.
From 1959 to 2008, the central government transferred 201.9 billion yuan. From 2001 to 2008 alone, transfers totaled more than 154.1 billion yuan - 93.7 percent of the region's financial revenue. "This means that for every 100 yuan that Tibet spent, more than 90 yuan came from the central government," the report said.
In infrastructure, a 51,300-km network of highways had connected every Tibetan county by the end of last year. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the 1,956-km rail link that began to run on the "roof of the world" in 2006, greatly spurred growth in tourism, cars, housing and entertainment.
The telecommunication sector registered unprecedented progress in the past half century, with the number of telephones rising from 276 in the whole region in 1959 to 55 for every 100 people now.
Ultimate goal
With some 800 Websites, its Internet population has neared 200,000.
The ultimate goal of economic development was human development, the report said.
"Tibet today sees a comparatively high birth rate and life expectancy, low mortality rate, and a steady growth in population," it said.
In the less than 60 years from Tibet's peaceful liberation in 1951 to 2008, the local Tibetan population increased from about 1 million to 2.7 million. In comparison, during the two centuries before the 1959 democratic reform, the local population only increased by 58,000, while the Tibetan population practically stopped growing.
The family planning policy, which has been widely adopted in inland areas and basically limited families to one child, is not implemented in the vast agricultural and pastoral areas of Tibet.
Average life expectancy, an important index of human development, has risen to 67 years from 35.5 in old Tibet.
Maternal mortality dropped from 50 deaths per 1,000 live births in the early 1950s to 3.1 per 1,000 in 2007, and infant mortality rate dropped from 430 deaths per 1,000 to 24.5 per 1,000.
False assumption
Although more people from elsewhere in China have gone to Tibet for job and business opportunities, the Tibetan population remains the overwhelming majority in the region, accounting for a steady 90 percent or more of the local population, it said.
"It is clear that the assertion that 'local Tibetan people are becoming a minority due to a large inflow of Han people into the region', made by some international non-government organizations and individuals, is a false assumption contrary to the facts," it said.
According to the report, the number of medical facilities in Tibet has increased nearly 20 times over the past 50 years to 1,339.
Before the democratic reform, education was monopolized by monasteries, and more than 95 percent of Tibetans were illiterate. Now, the average years spent in school has reached 6.3 years and illiteracy among adults under 50 has fallen to below 2.4 percent.
As of the end of 2006, 95.6 percent of Tibet's primary school students and 94.62 percent of the junior high school students had been offered bilingual courses in Tibetan and Chinese.
Tibetan farmers and herdsmen are leading relatively comfortable lives, and durable goods like TV sets and mobile phones have entered many rural Tibetan homes.
About 20 percent of rural households have bought trucks or tractors, and it is a trend in the pastoral areas of northern Tibet to buy the latest model of motorcycles.
The authors said the aim was to provide a reference for policy makers working on further development of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Tibet's per capita gross domestic product was 13,861 yuan (US$2,029) last year, a giant leap from the 142 yuan in 1959 when the central government began democratic reform there.
Although the 2008 figure was far lower than the national average of 22,698 yuan, it should be taken into account that economic growth started from a very low level.
The report attributed the robust economic development to the central government's fiscal transfer payment and input for projects, as well as assistance from more-developed inland provinces and cities.
From 1959 to 2008, the central government transferred 201.9 billion yuan. From 2001 to 2008 alone, transfers totaled more than 154.1 billion yuan - 93.7 percent of the region's financial revenue. "This means that for every 100 yuan that Tibet spent, more than 90 yuan came from the central government," the report said.
In infrastructure, a 51,300-km network of highways had connected every Tibetan county by the end of last year. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the 1,956-km rail link that began to run on the "roof of the world" in 2006, greatly spurred growth in tourism, cars, housing and entertainment.
The telecommunication sector registered unprecedented progress in the past half century, with the number of telephones rising from 276 in the whole region in 1959 to 55 for every 100 people now.
Ultimate goal
With some 800 Websites, its Internet population has neared 200,000.
The ultimate goal of economic development was human development, the report said.
"Tibet today sees a comparatively high birth rate and life expectancy, low mortality rate, and a steady growth in population," it said.
In the less than 60 years from Tibet's peaceful liberation in 1951 to 2008, the local Tibetan population increased from about 1 million to 2.7 million. In comparison, during the two centuries before the 1959 democratic reform, the local population only increased by 58,000, while the Tibetan population practically stopped growing.
The family planning policy, which has been widely adopted in inland areas and basically limited families to one child, is not implemented in the vast agricultural and pastoral areas of Tibet.
Average life expectancy, an important index of human development, has risen to 67 years from 35.5 in old Tibet.
Maternal mortality dropped from 50 deaths per 1,000 live births in the early 1950s to 3.1 per 1,000 in 2007, and infant mortality rate dropped from 430 deaths per 1,000 to 24.5 per 1,000.
False assumption
Although more people from elsewhere in China have gone to Tibet for job and business opportunities, the Tibetan population remains the overwhelming majority in the region, accounting for a steady 90 percent or more of the local population, it said.
"It is clear that the assertion that 'local Tibetan people are becoming a minority due to a large inflow of Han people into the region', made by some international non-government organizations and individuals, is a false assumption contrary to the facts," it said.
According to the report, the number of medical facilities in Tibet has increased nearly 20 times over the past 50 years to 1,339.
Before the democratic reform, education was monopolized by monasteries, and more than 95 percent of Tibetans were illiterate. Now, the average years spent in school has reached 6.3 years and illiteracy among adults under 50 has fallen to below 2.4 percent.
As of the end of 2006, 95.6 percent of Tibet's primary school students and 94.62 percent of the junior high school students had been offered bilingual courses in Tibetan and Chinese.
Tibetan farmers and herdsmen are leading relatively comfortable lives, and durable goods like TV sets and mobile phones have entered many rural Tibetan homes.
About 20 percent of rural households have bought trucks or tractors, and it is a trend in the pastoral areas of northern Tibet to buy the latest model of motorcycles.
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