Industries main driving force of rural modernization in Xizang: report

BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Industries are the main driving force of rural modernization in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, according to a report released on Thursday.

Industries are crucial for optimizing resource allocation and shaping the structure and form of villages in Xizang, which has successfully lifted all 628,000 impoverished residents out of poverty by the end of 2019, notes the report titled "Harmony Between Tradition and Modernity: Rural Development and Cultural Inheritance in China's Xizang."

In recent years, Xizang has tailored its development strategies to local conditions, tapping into its unique resource advantages to vigorously promote plateau-specific agriculture and animal husbandry, says the report, which was jointly issued by the China Foundation for Human Rights Development and the National High-Level Think Tank of Xinhua News Agency.

In 2024 alone, Xizang allocated 12.39 billion yuan (around 1.75 billion U.S. dollars), prioritizing the development of industries that connect, support, and enrich farmers and herders. These initiatives have accelerated the transformation and upgrading of rural industries, boosting incomes and prosperity among local communities.

That year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in Xizang reached 21,578 yuan, surpassing the 20,000-yuan threshold for the first time, with an 8.3 percent increase from the previous year, the fastest growth rate nationwide, according to the report.

Over the past six decades since the founding of the autonomous region in 1965, Xizang has achieved remarkable economic and social progress, joining the rest of the country in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and embarking on a new journey toward socialist modernization.

Before the peaceful liberation of Xizang in 1951, the region was governed by a theocratic feudal serfdom system. The serfs, who made up over 95 percent of the population, were trapped with heavy shackles. Xizang's economic and social development stagnated for a long time, and its rural areas were extremely poor and backward, the report adds.