Tibet builds comprehensive transport network: white paper

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has built a comprehensive transport network composed of highways, railways, air routes and pipelines since its peaceful liberation in 1951, according to a white paper issued on Friday.

The region, whose roads were described as "extremely rough and dangerous for passengers and their horses" by a 1930 book, has built 118,800 km of highways over the decades, said the document titled "Tibet Since 1951: Liberation, Development and Prosperity," issued by China's State Council Information Office.

Now, 94 percent of towns and 76 percent of administrative villages in the region have direct access to asphalt and concrete roads.