More than 390,000 farmers and herders in about 1,400 villages in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China, are expected to have access to TV and radio programs this year with the construction of new radio and TV relay facilities, a local official said.

Zhang Chongyin, director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Bureau of Radio, Film and Television, said Tuesday that local farmers and herders will be able to listen to radio programs broadcast on five channels and view TV programs on eight channels.

By the end of last year, 83.7 percent of locals in Tibet had access to radio programs and 84.47 percent had access to TV programs.

With an area of more than 1.2 million square kilometers, Tibet has a population of 2.62 million, more than 80 percent of which are farmers and herders dwelling in secluded, outlying areas.

"Radio and TV programs have greatly enriched the lives of and brought scientific and technological knowledge to locals," Zhang said.

China launched a project to enable all rural villages across the country to have access to radio and TV programs in 1998. Central and local governments invested 1.76 billion yuan (approximately 212 million US dollars) in the project, which enabled 117,000 villages with a population of more than 70 million, to have access to radio and TV programs by the end of 2003.

According to the State Development and Reform Commission, China still has more than 80 million people who do not access to radio and TV programs, most of whom live in outlying areas in the country's western and central parts.