Tibet marks progress against poverty

Five districts and counties of the Tibet autonomous region have been lifted successfully out of poverty, with the poverty rate falling below 3 percent, Norbu Dondrub, vice-chairman of the region, announced at a news conference on Wednesday.

The five districts and counties are Chengguan district, Dromo county, Nedong district, Dragyib district and Kharub district.

The five were on a list of 26 counties named on Wednesday by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development as having risen above the official poverty line.

"Nearly 2,000 households - 5,323 people - have shaken off poverty in Nedong," said Zhang Wei, head of the district. "The average income per capita has increased by 104 percent from 2,300 yuan ($348) to more than 4,600."

Zhang said the people in Nedong are encouraged to get involved in industries such as raising pigs or producing concrete - or take advantage of natural resources by bottling natural mineral water.

"We won our first battle against poverty thanks to government assistance," said Norbu Dondrub. "The success we have achieved is the result of preferential policies released by the Party and the unprecedented efforts made by our people."

Regarded as one of the areas of extreme poverty in China, Tibet has attracted great attention from the central government. More than 1,300 poverty alleviation projects have been launched. About 4.29 billion yuan granted by the central government and enterprises has been invested in the region over the past year.

Education is also a priority in Tibet's poverty alleviation work, with 67,800 people having received vocational college courses during the year.

"We still have great challenges ahead. Tibet is an impoverished region with more than 400,000 poor people still in deep poverty," said Norbu Dondrub. "There are 69 districts and counties in the region that have yet to be relieved."

He said 147,000 residents in the region have been lifted out of poverty in 2016, and the region has been recognized as one of the top eight regional success stories in China.