By Source:China Tibet Online
2015-07-22
The Year 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and it is reported as saying that the Sixth Conference on the Work of Tibet may also be convened this year. Since the central government has always presented gifts to Tibet on major celebrations, we may wonder what kind of gift it will send to Tibet this year.
In March 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned in the Government Work Report that China is a unified and multi-ethnic country, and it is important to uphold and improve the system of the regional ethnic autonomy. It is also important to provide more support to the development of ethnic minority areas, to protect and develop ethnic cultures and characteristic towns in order to promote exchanges among various ethnic groups.
The Year 2011 marked the 60th anniversary of Tibet’s peaceful liberation, and the delegation from China’s central government presented the Tibetan people with essential life products, including stainless steel pressure cookers, handheld solar-powered torches, and portable solar-powered televisions. Although people living in developed areas might not consider these items, for those living on the high plateau, especially rural residents in remote areas, the gifts are very practical and useful.
China is currently promoting the deepening of reform in an all-round way. For example, the “One belt, One road” strategy is seen as an opportunity to accelerate Tibet’s development. Gifts from the central government to Tibet also include policy support in public finance and banking.
According to a report from Xinhuanet.com, in March of this year, Xiao Gang, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, proposed policies that would support an equity shares market, a bond market, and a futures contract market in the Tibet Autonomous Region as well as efforts that would broaden financing channels for businesses, support funding for small-scale businesses, which will play a role in supporting the development of a futures contract market in Tibet. In order to promote the development of a capital market, Tibet’s own economic capacity must be improved.
Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said in October of last year that in order to improve the banking institution in Tibet and provide credit resources, China must focus on developing Tibet’s local tourism and culture, Tibetan medicine and pharmacology, and characteristic industries such as agriculture and animal husbandry. China must further expand the “Horseback Bank”, the “Tent Bank”, and mobile servicing vehicles, all according to the particular characteristics of Tibet.
These gifts are all beneficial for accelerating Tibet’s leapfrog development and for promoting the building of a moderately prosperous society in Tibet. According to statistics from the Tibet Autonomous Region Taxation Bureau, as China’s economy entered a New Normal era in 2014, Tibet’s GDP reached 92 billion yuan, an increase of 10.8 percent.
Tibet is the country’s only region with vast concentrated poverty areas, and the per capita net income for farmers and herdsmen increased from 4,139 yuan in 2010 to 7,471 yuan in 2014, an increase of 44.6 percent. The growth rate of disposable income of farmers and herdsmen ranked the first in China. From 2011 to 2013, Tibet allocated 4.22 billion yuan toward a special poverty alleviation fund, exceeding the total investment during the ten-year period between the “Eleventh Five-year Plan” and the “Twelfth Five-year Plan” periods (2006-2015).
