May 23 marked the 50th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet, Tang Yinlong, spokesman of Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in New York illustrated to the local Chinese media tremendous changes that have taken place in Tibet over the past 50 years.
During the 50 years in the past, the state has injected a total of 50 billion yuan for the region's infrastructure construction and financial subsidies with an average of over 1 billion-yuan for every year.
Most of the 62 key projects assisted by the state and other inland provinces since 1994 have been brought to completion and put into operation.
The GDP reached 11.74 billion-yuan last year, and it saw simultaneous increase both in taxation and financial revenue. Grain and meat supply has turned from a long-term shortage to self-sufficiency, realizing a historical breakthrough with 430,000 people shaken off poverty. People in Tibet enjoy all political rights as stipulated by the law. The local representatives from those counties where ethnic Tibetan people are in the majority account for 95 percent in the People's Congress at county level and 82 percent at the regional level. Tibetan cadres and cadres of other ethnic people make up 74.9 percent of all cadres in the region, and the CPC central committee and state government departments also have Tibetan cadres.
Over the 20 years since the reform and opening-up to the outside world, the central government invested 300 million yuan for the renovation of 1,400 temples. So far, the region registered 1,700 religious venues with some 46,000 lamas carrying out normal religious activities.
Population in the region increased from one million to 2.61 million with the Tibetan people accounting for 92.2 percent.
Before the democratic reform in 1950s, the average life span of the Tibetan people was 36 years only, and now it has reached 65.
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