China.org.cn | July 4, 2024
Phoenix TV:
We have noticed that Xizang is located in a plateau and boasts resources with local characteristics including highland agriculture, animal husbandry and clean energy. How will these resources with local characteristics be utilized in order to develop these distinctive and competitive industries? And what progress has been made? Thank you.
Wang Niandong:
Thanks to the reporter from the Phoenix TV for your questions. Just as you mentioned, Xizang is endowed with many resources, which Mr. Yan and Mr. Xu both just mentioned in their exchanges with reporters. CPC Xizang Autonomous Regional Committee and the People's Government of the Xizang Autonomous Region have proposed to develop nine industries consistent with local conditions, such as cultural tourism, clean energy, agriculture and animal husbandry, Tibetan medicine and general aviation. Initial progress has already been achieved through the last few year's efforts. It has become a consensus among people that the National Highway 318 is a must-visit place for road trips and many people are yearning to travel there. The world-class landscape highway G219, a major artery running through China's western border areas, is named as "the road of the nation" by many driving enthusiasts. The large-scale true-to-life epic musical "Princess Wencheng" is a highlight of Tibetan cultural tourism and has been include in the National Tourism and Performance Excellence List. Bomi County and Medog County in Xizang were placed on the list of China's most beautiful counties.
Xizang has abundant clean energy resources. Around 30% of our annual investment in key construction projects is to support the construction of clean energy projects. Xizang is changing from traditional butter lamp lighting in homes to clean electricity that is generated and transmitted from the plateau. Currently, Xizang's installed power-generating capacity that has been constructed or is under construction has reached 24.14 million kilowatts, of which over 95% is from clean energy, ranking among the top in China. The main power grid extends to 74 counties or districts within the autonomous region.
In recent years, we have vigorously developed highland barley, yaks, Tibetan sheep, Tibetan pigs, Tibetan chickens and other quality resource industries with plateau characteristics through scientific and technological empowerment. We have bred seven high-yield new varieties of highland barley, such as Zangqing 3000, as well as multiple new livestock and poultry varieties, such as semi-fine wool sheep and snow land white chickens. In 2023, the total grain output in the entire autonomous region stayed above 1 million tons, of which the output of highland barley was over 840,000 tons, with an increase of 1.4%. We have vigorously developed local characteristic agriculture, with the vegetable production of greenhouses last year reaching 880,000 tons, an increase of 8.4%.To ensure food security, we have built a Xizang rice planting base of 20,000 mu in Beidahuang Agricultural Reclamation Group. The new rice produced from the base has begun to be supplied to the Xizang market. We have promoted the inheritance and development of the Tibetan medicine industry, with the Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO and the Four Medical Tantras on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The first Tibetan medical equipment in China, a single-use Tibetan medical bloodletting kit, has been released on the market. The total output value of the Tibetan medicine industry has reached 3.1 billion yuan, rising by 23.8%.
Distinctive and competitive local industries in Xizang have taken shape and their benefits are steadily increasing. Next, we will increase financial input, step up innovation and accelerate the improvement of major infrastructure such as water, electricity and telecommunications. We will optimize the environment of development, give full play to policy incentives, tap into resource advantages, show location advantages and make good use of the latecomer's advantages. We will smooth the economic cycle and leverage our diverse strengths to propel our development. Thank you.