Valuable Lessons from Tibet's Fight Against Poverty

IN 1951, when Tibet was peacefully liberated, the poverty rate in the region was as high as 80 percent. In the following decades, the Chinese government carried out a comprehensive antipoverty campaign in Tibet, leading to a steady decrease in the number of poor people in the region.

- LI YUAN

The figure fell to 26 percent of local population in 2012, with 600,000 people still living in extreme poverty at that time.

Since 2012, the Chinese government has given top priority to targeted poverty alleviation by constantly exploring innovative approaches. At the end of 2019, the government of Tibet Autonomous Region announced that 628,000 people in 74 counties of the region had been lifted out of poverty, and their per capita net income had increased from RMB 1,499 (US $229) in 2015 to RMB 9,328 (US $1,426) in 2019.

The Tibetan people have now greatly improved their quality of life through the targeted poverty alleviation and eradication practice and vigorously implemented rural revitalization.

From Poverty-Stricken to Well-off

Because of its well-preserved indigenous ecological environment, Zari Township, located in remote Shannan City in southern Tibet, was selected to be part of the first batch of scenic spots promoted for tourism in Tibet. Zari, in spite of rich natural tourism resources, had previously been an extremely impoverished township that was overlooked by tourists due to its backward infrastructure, rugged roads, shortage of water supply, electricity, and housing.

Goinqog Qoizhoin, a native of Zari, and township head, has witnessed the tremendous changes brought about by poverty alleviation in her hometown. “Now the villagers have moved out of their dilapidated houses to live in the affordable modern housing, and every household has electricity. After an asphalt road was built between the county seat of Lhunze to Zari, the journey that used to take seven or eight hours has been reduced to only three hours,” she said.