In the past 40 years since Tibet's peaceful Liberation in 1951,tremendous changes have taken place in the autonomous region. The Tibetan people have become their own masters, the economy has developed rapidly and the standard of living has improved day by day. Educational, scientific and cultural undertakings have come a long way, as well. At present, the Tibetans are exploiting its resources, developing agriculture and animal husbandry, improving its transport facilities and alleviating the energy shortage to pave the way for future economic development.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Only 40 years ago, Tibet was a feudal serf society with the overwhelming majority of Tibetan people suffering under the three kinds of estateholders (aristocrats, monastic autocrats and feudal officials). After the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951 and, in particular, following the Democratic Reform in 1959, the feudal serfdom was overthrown and the Tibetan people were emancipated. The tremendous changes which have taken place in Tibet, especially in the past ten years, is evidenced by the rapid development of the economy and peaceful social order.

Statistics show that in 1990 Tibet's gross product was 2.217 billion yuan, the income was 1.67 billion yuan and the total value of industrial and agricultural output was 1.024 billion yuan. The total industrial output value increased by 7.4 times over the 1965 figure, while the total agricultural output value was up 4.5times over 1952.

In 1989 the total grain output in the Tibet Autonomous Region reached 530,000 tons, a record high. In 1990, the region's total grain output was 555,000 tons, higher than that of 1989 and a 200 percent increase over 1959.

Grain Output

Tibet is based on agriculture and animal husbandry with agriculture accounting for over 75 percent of the total output value of industry and agriculture.

Before the Democratic Reform, Tibet's agriculture was basically primitive, with an annual grain output of only 180,000 tons.

In order to develop agriculture and animal husbandry, the state earmarked a total of 13 billion yuan for Tibet in recent decades, most of which was made after the adoption of the policy of reform and opening to the outside world. The Tibet Autonomous Region has carried out the government's long-term policy that grants individual households the right to till their own land, own the livestock they breed and make their own production and mangement decisions. It has also implemented the policy of building water conservancy projects and spreading scientific and technological knowledge, thus, accelerating the development of Tibetan agriculture and animal husbandry.

In Gyangze County, we were told that the county's output of grain and oil-bearing crops in 1990 exceeded 50 million kg, making it a major grain and oil producing county in Tibet.

Puncog, Party committee secretary of Gyangze County, said that in the past 40 years, Gyangze's agriculture had constantly developed, especially since the reform and opening to the outside world. According to statistics, the whole county's gross output of grain and oil-bearing crops in 1959 was 5.7million kg, while in 1979 it was 19.36 million kg, a three-fold increase in 20 years. In 1989, the figure shot up to 45 million kg, a rise of 135 percent over 1979.The county's gross value of agricultural output in 1979 was 3.6million yuan, and the average per-capita income of farmers was 127 yuan annually, while in 1989, it reached 45.58 million yuan and the average annual per-capita income was 699 yuan.

The development of agriculture greatly improved the living standards. Puncog said that his county had the six following specific improvements:

1) New houses. About 80 percent of farmers in the whole county have built new houses, totalling 37,000 with a construction area of 500,000 square metres, an average of 10 square metres added for every person.2) Increased grain production. About 90 percent of farmers' households had surplus grain, enough for the whole family for one to three years. 3) Increased purchase of high-grade minority-style furniture. 4) Increased purchase of modern, high-grade and durable consumer goods. 5)More oil. 6) Increased savings deposits.

Puncog attributed such a big progress in agriculture to the implementation of the central government's special policy for Tibet, adding that the policy stimulated the farmers' enthusiasm. The farmers also benefit a lot from water conservancy projects built over the past few years and agro-technology adopted.

During the past ten years, Gyangze County concentrated its resources on building water conservancy projects and harnessing the Nyang Qu River, constantly improving its production conditions. It newly built and renovated a total of 33 main canals and transformed 22 small ditches in hills, thus shortening the irrigation period of crops from the previous 30 days to between seven and ten days. It harnessed the Rinang, Tuanjie and Nagno rivers, built eight reservoirs and 39 water pools with a total storage of 5.35 million cubic metres. It established the first and second level Karmai pump storage stations. At present, the efficiently irrigated areas in the county has reached 6,667 hectares, some 74 percent of the county's 9,000 hectares of cultivated land.

The use of agro-technology has also been of importance. To spread agricultural science and technology in Gyangze, however, requires time. The farmers of the area are used to the traditional way of the plough and don't know about the benefits of improved varieties, chemical fertilizers and insecticides.

The county's Party secretary, Puncog, took the lead by experimenting with his family-contracted land and obtained a measurable increase in production. As the farmers saw with their own eyes the great impact that agricultural science and technology had on crop production, they accepted many new ideas. Now the rate of use of improved seed variety has reached 80 percent of the county's total land and areas cultivated by machinery reached over 50 percent. About 480 kg of chemical fertilizers are used per hectare.

Gyangze is the epitome of Tibetan agriculture.

Since 1987, Tibet has designated ten agricultural counties, all located along the Lhasa, Nyang Qu, Yalong, Nyang and Yarlung Zangbo rivers, as commercial grain bases. The dissemination and popularization of scientific farming in these counties has turned them into grain producers with high and stable yield.

Statistics show that Tibet has established more than 16,500 water conservancy projects, providing an annual water supply of 1.567 billion cubic metres, and that the effectively irrigated area has reached 54.3 percent of Tibet's total cultivated land area. Small hydropower stations in rural areas have a total installed capacity of 48,000 kw, producing 75 million kwh of electricity annually.

The number of people of Tibetan nationality involved in scientific farming has reached 10,476, accounting for 65 percent of the region's total. They have selected and bred 70 or so improved varieties of grain and other economic crops. After the varieties were used, production increased by 15 to 30 percent.

This year Tibet will arrange 12 million yuan for the construction of water conservancy works and provide an agro-technical service. Currently, the number of farmland cultivated under technical guidance has reached 113,000 hectares.

Tibet's animal husbandry has also developed rapidly. The output value of animal husbandry in 1989 was 430 million yuan, an increase of 48.3 percent over 1978.

Tibet is one of China's five pastoral areas. It has 82.66 million hectares of grassland, 57.33 million hectares of which can be used. It has 23 million head of animals, a 2.41-time rise over 1959, and an average 10.8 head for each person, ranking the highest in the country.

At present, four animal product bases have been established in Damxung, Nagqu, Amdo and Nyainrong counties. They offer 1.25 million kg of mutton and beef annually. More than 60 percent of herdsmen have fixed residences, no longer leading a nomadic life.

Industry From Scratch

In Tibet, in addition to buttered tea, guests are often entertained with beer. And the hosts will also say with pride that it was brewed in Tibet.

In the past, beer was always transported from the inland. On May 16, 1988, construction of the Lhasa Brewery was begun with 24 million yuan in state investment. After one year of efforts, it was formally put into production on September 28,1989, and now can produce 5,000 tons of beer annually.

Barley used is pollution free. And the water used, extracted from a 127-metre-deep underground source, is extremely soft. The quality of the water ranks among the best in the country.

Jiao Yongqing, deputy director of the Lhasa Brewery, said that his factory uses equipment manufactured domestically in the 1980s and imported a production line from Romania. Most of the equipment is controlled automatically.

Thirty years ago, Tibet was regarded as a "noman's land" of China's modern industry. The industrial products needed by Tibetans for their production and livelihood were always supplied from other parts of China.

A modern industry didn't appear in Tibet until in the 1960s when a number of modern industrial enterprises, such as electrical power, processing of agricultural and animal husbandry products, food, building materials, machinery, light industry and textiles, as well as mining, were set up in Lhasa, Xigaze, Zetang, Qamdo and other towns.

Entering the 1980s, Tibet, proceeding from its actual conditions, readjusted its existing industries and decided to develop three major ones-power, textile and mining. Currently, there are more than 260 industrial enterprises with 500 million yuan in fixed assets. In 1989, their output value was 221 million yuan.

The power industry developed at a fast speed. There are 429 power stations distributed in various places of the region and 667 sets of generators with a combined installed capacity of 147,922 kw, producing 280 million kwh of electricity a year.

The textile industry has reached a certain scale. More than 120 enterprises have been established one after another, producing 420 varieties and designs.

Tibet is rich in mineral resources. Reserves in some 70 places have been verified. The reserves of chromium, boron and copper rank first nationwide. There are now over 60 mining enterprises. The output of chromium and iron reach 87,000 tons, up 42 percent over 1986,and cement output was 120,000 tons, a seven-fold increase over 1986.

In order to speed up the development of Tibetan industry, the state invested a lot of funds in technical transformation. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan period (1986-90), of 123 million yuan in investment in technical transformation, 53.87 million yuan was earmarked by the state to update 74 projects of eight industries. Investment in transport and communications was 60 million yuan, which was used to purchase over 1,500 vehicles. Investment in energy development was 25 million yuan, which was used to renovate seven power enterprises, basically ensuring a sustained and safe supply of electricity. Some 37.6 million yuan was put into the technical renovation of leather, woollen textiles, and nationality handicraft industries, which was used to renovate 30,000 square metres of workshops and revamp 280 sets of equipment, so that the production technique and product quality reached the domestic level of the late 1970s. Tibet's textiles and nationality handicraft have already reached an appropriate scale.

Tibet is unique nationality handicraft has a long history. The cushions of Gyangze, gold and silver utensils of Shannan and Qamdo, and Tibetan aprons, quilts and tents, which best symbolize Tibetan life and customs, are all well received by consumers. The current situation is quite different from the past when the development of nationality handicraft industry was slow.

In the late 1980s, the central government adopted a preferential policy for Tibetan handicraft industry, this, plus a total investment of 25 million yuan, has greatly stimulated Tibet industrial enterprises.

Tibet now has 108 nationality handicraft enterprises capable of producing 1,600 or so varieties of products, 18 varieties of which have won national awards for their high quality. The output value is 41.07 million yuan, an increase of 12 times over 1978.

The nationality handicrafts sell well at home and abroad. In 1989, some 32,000 square feet of Tibetan carpets were sold to the United States.

Transportation

Forty years ago, there were neither highways nor air lines connecting Lhasa to Beijing. If the Banqain and Dalai Lama wanted to come to Beijing, it would take them several months.

In December 1954, the Sichuan-Tibet and the Qinghai-Tibet highways were open to traffic at the same time. In 1965,construction of the Lhasa Gonggar Airport was completed and an air service between Beijing and Lhasa via Chengdu opened. From that time on, it has not been a difficult journey from Beijing to Lhasa, now taking only four hours. Lhasa is no longer a distant place.

Following the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet and Sichuan-Tibet highways, construction of the Xinjiang-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet and China-Nepal highways was also completed. Currently, there are 21,695 km of highways and 720 or so bridges throughout the region. Some. 15 trunk lines and 315 feeder highways crisscross the region. The highway network covers every county in the region but Medog and 77 percent of the townships.

Between 1974 to 1985, the 1,937-km Qinghai Highway was reconstructed into a second-class asphalt road, the longest and highest asphalt highway above sea level in the world. The state invested 3 billion yuan in the project.

After more than 20 years of efforts, there has been a growth of air flights from one to 16 each week and an annual increase in handling capacity from 4,000 to 140,000 persons. An international air route was also opened from Lhasa to Katmandu, capital of Nepal.

The posts and telecommunications have also helped to shorten the distance between Lhasa and Beijing and between Lhasa and the rest of the world. Last September, Lhasa began an automatic international and domestic telephone network and a telephone call from Lhasa to Beijing can now be connected in half an hour.

Tibet's post and telecommunication undertaking has taken shape gradually since the peaceful liberation and, in the past ten years, has developed at a fast pace. Before the Sichuan-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet highways were opened to traffic in December 1954, postal matters had to be sent by horse relay and it would take at least 29 day for a letter from Lhasa to Chengdu. The situation remained unchanged until that two highways were opened to traffic. Now, it takes only four or five days for a letter from Lhasa to its destination in various parts of the country.

Statistics show that compared with 1958, the number of region's post offices in 1989 increased from 12 to 118, a 9.83-fold increase. The total length of postal roads increased from 2,816 km to 71,449 km, a rise of 25.37 times. About 74 counties in the region are now accessible by postal communications, and 70 percent of rural areas have access to postal communications. Air postal routes had grown from scratch and the long-distance telephones had increased from 28 to 226, an 8.07-fold increase. The number of telephone exchanges within Lhasa grew from 150 to 10,740 channels, up 71.6 times. Oldstyle telephones made way to automatic ones numbering 9,290.Telegraphs can be sent out from every county in the region.

Satellite communication has also been introduced into Tibet. Currently the region has set up five satellite communication receiving stations respectively in Lhasa, Qamdo, Nyingchi, Ngari and Xigaze. Residents in seven prefectures and cities and 74 county seats can directly receive the CCTV news and other programmes along with the inland residents. Lhasa news, on the other hand, can be transmitted to Beijing and relayed to other parts of the country and foreign countries in the same day.

For the convenience of Tibetans, the region's post and communication departments have also opened a Tibetan-language telegraph business.

With the expansion of international exchange, Tibet has established two international postal roads between Lhasa and India and between Lhasa and Nepal and an international postal exchange business is in place between China and Nepal and China and India via Tibet.

Development

Great progress has been made in Tibet's economy during its 40 years of development and construction. However, its isolated location on the "roof of the world," relatively small population, vast land area and inconvenient communication have left it with a weak economic foundation. The government of the autonomous region therefore decided to exploit its advantage in resources gave priority to the development of agriculture, energy and transport. A group of key projects were undertaken to speed up economic construction.

The comprehensive development of the Yarlung Zangbo River, the Lhasa River and the Nyang Qu River (three rivers),for example, is the largest agricultural development project in the history of Tibet. Construction formally began early this year in a total area of 65,700 square km with an estimated total investment of 2 billion yuan. By the end of this century, the project will help Tibet to have a granary as good as those in the inland.

Located in the south central part of Tibet, the middle reaches of the three rivers are the region's heartland; it is Tibet's most densely populated area and a centre of politics, economics and culture. With a population of 764,200, one third of Tibet's total, the area now has 100,000 hectares of cultivated land, almost half of the region's total. Grain output and commodity grain production respectively account for 56 percent and 80 percent of the region's total. The area is rich in light energy and water resources. Some 53 sites have underground thermal water activity. About 80,000 hectares of wasteland can be reclaimed. Some 37 ore deposits have been discovered, the reserves of 17 of which have been verified. Of these, the reserves of chromite total 3.9 million tons, representing 40 percent of the country's total.

This river development programme includes 50 or so water conservancy and other projects. After the programme is put into practice, four large bases for the production of commodity grain, non-staple food, textiles and handicraft and the dissemination of science and technology-will be set up. It is estimated that in five years, grain production will increase by over 45 million kg, meat 8.8 million kg, butter 470,000 kg and electricity 69 million kwh.

The construction of the Yamzhog Yumco Pump-Storage Power Station has been resumed. Located in Nanggarze County, south of Tibet, the Yamzhog Yumco Lake is about 800 square km in size and at an elevation of more than 4,400 metres. It is the largest fresh water lake north of the Himalayas Mountain.

Early in 1959, geologists found that the Yamzhog Yumco Lake possessed tremendous water resources. In 1974 engineers and technicians conducted an on-site survey and decided to build a power station using the 840 metre fall between the Yamzhog Yumco Lake and the Yarlung Zangbo River. In 1981, the power station was listed as a state project. Construction began in 1985, but stopped in 1986 because some top Tibetan personnel worried that the construction of the station would have an adverse impact on the environment. Later research proved that there would be no adverse impact on the environment and, in August 1989, the state approved resumption of construction and allocated 600 million yuan for the purpose. The power station will be installed with six sets of 15,000-kw water-pumping and power storage generators.

At present, construction is on schedule and the first generating set will begin operation in four years. The station will not only meet Lhasa's need for electricity, but also form a large generating network linking Lhasa, Xigaze and Shannan, helping the three-river development programme.

The government will continue to exploit geothermal resources. In February this year, another two generating sets were installed in Tibet's Yangbajain Geothermal Power Station, expanding the station's installed generating capacity to 25,180 kw. After 16 years of development and use of shallow geothermal heat, the station has been changed from an experimental project to a major producer of electricity.

Tibet is very rich in geothermal resources. At present, more than 600 heat sources have been found. The Yangbajain station was the first geothermal power station built in Tibet in 1977. As of now, the state has invested a total of more than 200 million yuan and generated a total of 370 million kwh of electricity. It is the biggest station in Tibet and its annual output of electricity constitutes more than 40 percent of Lhasa's power network.

In recent years, the first- and second-phase projects for the No.2 plant of the Yangbajain station were completed and construction of the third-phase project is in full swing.

The geothermal development in Tibet has attracted many Chinese and foreign geologists and energy experts. Geothermal experts from the United States,Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Italy and the UN Development Programme have gone to Yangbajain on technical exchange programmes many times. After conducting a survey, the UN Development Programme and the Italian government thought the prospects for development were quite good and so provided US$9million in free assistance.

Tibet's geothermal resources are a unique type of energy. The industry has a prosperous future and will play an important role in Tibet's economic development.

With the rapid economic development in Tibet, the Lhasa Gonggar Airport cannot meet transportation demands. Therefore, the state decided to invest 268 million yuan in the expansion of the airport. The project has been listed as a state key project.

The expansion project includes a new runway 4,000 metres long and 60 metres wide, parking apron, a booking office building and a set of communication and navigation facilities of advanced national level as well as a new office building for airport personnel. Design work for the expansion project began in March 1989 and construction in July 1990. At present, it is going smoothly. After the completion of the project, the airport, which can only accommodate Boeing 707 now, will be used by larger civilian passenger planes and cargo aircrafts including the Boeing 747. Its handling capacity will be expanded, related facilities added, and services improved daily, thus providing the conditions for opening new domestic and international routes.

A Ten-Year Plan

"We have many things to do, but according to Tibetan reality, priority should be given to the development of agriculture, animal husbandry, energy resources, transport and post and telecommunications in the next ten years," said Ma Lisheng, vice-chairman of the government of the autonomous region.

Ma said that agriculture and animal husbandry were the backbone of the Tibetan economy. Their gross output value made up 80 percent of the gross industrial and agricultural output value, and people engaged in farming and livestock breeding accounted for over 80 percent of the region's total. But currently the production of agriculture and animal husbandry is relatively backward. Every year about 150 million kg of grain has to be transferred from inland, thus putting a crimp into economic development. More emphasis therefore needs to be put on agriculture and animal husbandry in the 1990s. The first step of the process is to develop the three-river area.

Regarding energy development, hydroelectric power should be stressed as geothermal, wind and solar energy are used as a supplement. Efforts shall be made to complete on schedule the Yanzhog Yumco Station and the Yangbajain Geothermal Station. The installed capacity shall be increased at a rate of 8 percent annually. By the end of the century, the installed capacity of power in Tibet will be increased from 140,000 kw in 1989 to 360,000 kw.

In the field of transport, efforts shall be made to improve and maintain the Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet and XinjiangTibet highways, and to accelerate the construction of the new section of the China-Nepal Highway (Zhasa-Zham), the Nagqu-Qamdo Highway and the Lhasa-Burang Highway, and to build the Bome-Medog Highway.

In the field of posts and telecommunications, efforts shall be made to emphasize construction of new satellite receiving stations, to gradually develop a programme-controlled telephone system linking Lhasa to various parts of the region. At the same time, there will be improvements in the border communication work and a strengthening of the rural power station construction.

Ma said that in the 1990s,there would be new breakthroughs in Tibet's construction. Every effort will be made to develop production, laying a solid foundation for the further development in the 21st century.

(This article appears on page 19, No. 20, 1991)