This is one of the many economic achievements Tibet has made during the past 13 years since the 4th Plenary Session of the 13th CPC National Congress.

Over the past years, the region's average economic growth rate has reached 11 percent, higher than the national average. Dramatic changes have taken place in the region's urban and rural areas, while its major cities, such as Lhasa and Xigaze, having been experiencing the fastest development.

People's living standards have also risen remarkably. Motorcycles have become the common transport means for local people today, but in the past, even bikes were rarely seen in Tibet, said Raidi, a native who grew up on a Tibetan grassland. It's a common phenomenon in Tibet that herdsmen ride their motorcycles to graze their sheep and cattle.

Education has also been thriving in Tibet. The region now has more than 1,000 schools and 400,000 students, the highest records in the regional history.

Tibet owes its tremendous changes to the special and preferential policies of the central government and the generous and consistent supports from other areas of the country, said Raidi.

In the past 13 years, the central government has allocated a total of 65 billion yuan to develop the infrastructure and other undertakings in the region. Moreover, 73 counties in Tibet have established sister-city relationships with counterparts in other parts of the country. Last year, 15 large and medium-sized enterprises in Tibet received help from their sister-counterparts in other provinces. The harmony and union between different ethnic groups in Tibet and the region's social stability also count, Raidi added.

After the CPC 16th Congress, the people in Tibet will strive harder to build a well-off society and further strengthen the solidarity of different ethnic groups, said the vice-chairman.

(china.org.cn by staff reporter Guo Xiaohong November 13, 2002)