Official: Quality of life in Tibet improves

Police officers in Dromo county of the Tibet autonomous region help local farmers with their autumn harvest. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Border residents in the Tibet autonomous region have a better quality of life thanks to a series of government policies in recent years, regional authorities said.

"In the past five years, we have made efforts to protect our sacred motherland and build a happy life for border residents, and we have made new achievements in border prosperity, border defense consolidation and improving the livelihoods of border residents," Yan Jinhai, chairman of the regional government, said in delivering the work report at the regional People's Congress.

In 2022, the region launched 18 kinds of preferential policies to improve housing quality for border residents, and the construction of four urban townships was launched, Yan said.

Primary school students read in a village library set up by border police officers in Dromo county of the Tibet autonomous region. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Between 2018 and 2022, the region built 624 well-off villages in border areas. The population of border residents grew by 10.5 percent. And the highway mileage of border areas saw nearly fourfold growth.

Tashi Drolma, a border resident in Yumai township, which sits at the southern foot of the Himalayas, operates a teahouse and grocery shop in her home and brought in family income of more than 90,000 yuan ($13,000) in 2022, Tibet Daily reported.

"The various changes in our lives are what well-off means. I hope people will visit my hometown," Tibet Daily quoted Tashi Drolma as saying.

Police officers in Dromo county of the Tibet autonomous region help local farmers learn the law. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Basang Dawa, another resident of Yumai, who works at a pig farm, said he learned the skill of feeding pigs in recent years, and now he enjoys a monthly salary of 5,000 yuan.

"Now we have a better quality of life, and I will continue to cherish the work of pig feeding," he said.

Yan said the region will now work to optimize the policies involved with paying subsidies to border residents and patrollers.

"In 2023, we will work on facilitating oxygen supplies to border counties and townships at altitudes above 3,500 meters," Yan said.