Tibetannet

Tenzin (center), 76, who grows highland barley in a village in Shigatse city, enjoys life with his family at their new house. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Shigatse, the second-largest city in the Tibet autonomous region, has made fruitful achievements in socioeconomic development during the 13th Five-Year-Plan (2016-20) period, authorities said on Thursday.

Deng Jiangling, deputy mayor of the city, said the past five-years period was a critical phase to win the battle against poverty and to build the city as a moderately well-off society in an all-around manner.

Over the period, the city's GDP rose from 16.7 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) in 2015 to more than 27.9 billion yuan in 2019. The disposable income of the urban and rural population shifted from 25,078 yuan and 7,402 yuan respectively in 2015 to 36,455 yuan and 11,580 yuan in 2019.

"Some 172,900 impoverished people from 1,669 villages in the city's 18 counties and districts were lifted out of poverty since 2016," Deng Jiangling said.

More than 70,000 impoverished residents have been relocated to 246 new resettlements with improved living conditions, and their incomes in their new homes have been growing rapidly, he said. 

According to the local government, the city has developed poverty alleviation industries in these areas. More than 109,000 impoverished residents have found jobs in different business sectors, and more than 420,000 rural residents have benefited financially from grassroots cooperatives.

More than 29,000 poverty stricken residents have seen improvements to their livelihoods thanks to various vocational skills training programs provided by the government.

"Improvement of the city's infrastructure is prominent," he said. "More than 3,700 projects have been implemented, and more that 93 billion yuan has been invested in various projects."