China has kept making huge investments in recent years to improve the production mode and livelihood of farmers in southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region.

The money has come from the funds allocated by the central government and aids by the governments of other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

A power grid project with an estimated investment of nearly 600million yuan (72.29 million US dollars) for the rural areas started in 2002 and has since brought electricity to 400,000 residents in 25 counties in Lhasa City and four prefectures, including Xigaze, Nagqu and Qamdo, according to sources with the regional power company.

Last year Tibet earmarked more than 900 million yuan (108.43 million US dollars) for road construction projects in the rural areas, and had 2,998 kilometers of rural highways built or upgraded and 101 large and medium-sized bridges constructed, helping stretch highways to 92 percent of all the towns and townships and to 70 percent of all the villages in the region.

The five-year program designed for pasture conservation and herdsmen settlement in Tibet has arranged 110,400 square meters ofpermanent residential housing for 8,000 herdsmen from 19 frigid zones in the region. Under the program, 820,080 square meters of livestock sheds and another 11,000 square meters of grass storage sheds have been erected.

Thanks to the first phase of the 560-million-yuan (67.47 million US dollars) drinking water project, 330,000 people and 3.89 million head of livestock in 1,870 Tibetan villages have started enjoying clean water. The ongoing second phase will ensure reliable drinking water supply for 270,000 people and 3.06 million head of livestock in 1,336 villages.

At the end of 2003, a road and drainage network upgrading project was completed at a cost of 169 million yuan (20.36 million US dollars) for the old downtown area of Lhasa, capital city of the autonomous region. The project involved a square kilometer of ancient structures with the Jokhan Temple as the core.

The upgrade project laid granite bricks on the related roads and installed parking lots and public toilets. Meanwhile, sewage and rubbish treatment stations have been built and exquisitely-made road lamps have been installed around the temple and nearby scenic spots.

According to data provided by the regional radio and television bureau, radio broadcasting has covered 82.74 percent of the total population in Tibet, while the TV coverage has reached 81.29 percent.

In 2003, the region invested 46.95 million yuan (5.66 million US dollars) in providing jobs for its urban residents. Under the financial support, 8,829 Tibetan people, including 5,000 or so laid-offs, have found jobs.

Local telecom officials said that there are now on the 1.2-million-sq-km Tibetan Plateau 61 optical fiber cables for county-level use and 400-plus satellite phone stations, with a telecom service coverage of more than 90 percent. About 85 percent of all the villages in Tibet enjoy phone services, the officials added.

Source: Xinhua