86th founding anniversary of CPC celebrated in Tibet

People of all ethnic groups in Tibet led by Communist Party of China (CPC) have created outstanding achievements since the peaceful liberation of Tibet more than 50 years ago, a senior local official said.

Zhang Qingli, secretary of the CPC Tibet regional committee, told a meeting of celebration on Friday to mark the 86th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which falls on July 1.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway which was opened on July 1 last year has been applauded as one of the most prominent achievements. The 1,956-km-long railway, running from Xining, capital of northwestern Qinghai Province, and Lhasa, links Tibet with the rest of China by train for the first time.

Zhang pledged that more efforts will be made in the future to improve the livelihood of the 2.81 million people in Tibet, especially in medical care, education, employment and social security.

The 17th CPC National Congress will be held in Beijing in the second half of the year and 26 deputies elected from Tibet will attend the congress. There are more than 157,000 CPC members in Tibet.

The annual GDP growth of Tibet reached 13.4 percent last year, bringing the region's total gross domestic product (GDP) to a record 29 billion yuan (3.74 billion U.S. dollars) with the per-capita GDP above 1,000 U.S. dollars.

In addition, the annual per-capita net income of Tibetan farmers and herdsmen stood at 2,435 yuan (314 U.S. dollars) in 2006, an annual increase of 17.2 percent.

The Chinese central government will invest more than 100 billion yuan (12.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 180 projects in Tibet between 2006 and 2010, covering infrastructure construction, education, social security and environmental conservation, according to official figures.

Source: Xinhua