SW China's Tibet improves poor people’s lives through relocation

Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has brought better lives to its impoverished residents by relocating them from inhospitable pastoral areas and securing employment for them.

By the end of 2020, the region had built 964 relocation sites in more habitable locations, and constructed over 60,000 resettlement apartments for 266,000 people. To ensure that the relocated residents could enjoy a prosperous life in the long term, the region has launched vocational training and developed industries with local characteristics.

A relocation site in Quxu County, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo/Xinhua)

Baima, 33, and his family from Tandu township, Amdo county, who were once poor herdsmen, have embraced a brand new life after moving from their adobe house in the local pastoral area to a relocation site in the county at the end of 2017.

Before moving to the new place, Baima received training on how to operate excavation and piling machinery and got a certificate, allowing him to find a proper job after settling in the county. Now, his family’s annual income exceeds 20,000 yuan (about $3,094), more than a five-fold increase compared to their previous income.

“I couldn’t live such a good life without the favorable policies of the Party and government,” he said thankfully.

Tibet has also made the most of its animal husbandry to develop related industries, which is another effective measure ensuring employment and boosting residents’ incomes. According to Ougya Tsephel, the dairy product cooperative that he heads adds value to raw milk by producing a wide variety of processed products, such as yogurt, cheese and butter.

Ougya added that the cooperative earned a net income of 85,500 yuan last year, of which nearly 50,000 yuan went to 82 households that had joined the cooperative.