A senior official in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region
has claimed the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has greatly boosted the
region's social and economic development since it began operating
on July 1 last year.
"The railway promoted Tibet's tourism," said Jin Shixun,
director of the region's Development and Reform Commission, at a
meeting of the local legislature, the Regional People's
Congress.
Tibet received 1.86 million tourists in the second half of last
year, up 48 percent from the same period a year earlier, while
tourism revenues reached 2.1 billion yuan (270 million U.S.
dollars), up 40 percent, according to the regional Tourism
Bureau.
The railway also pushed the growth of consumption, which in turn
drove the economic growth, Jin said, citing that the operation of
the railway helped lower prices and lift purchasing power.
Retail sales stood at 8.56 billion yuan in Tibet last year, an
increase of 17 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile. the region
has notched up economic growth of more than 12 percent for the
sixth year in a row.
Sonam Puncog, president of the regional Association of Industry
and Commerce, praised the railway for helping the private sector
achieve a rapid growth in Tibet.
The number of self-employed people was 68,700 at the end of last
year, up 11 percent from 2005, and private businesses stood at
3,414, up 29.8 percent.
Taxes paid by private businesses reached 975 million yuan last
year, up 41 percent year on year, accounting for 58 percent of the
regional total, he said.
"In addition, the opening of the railway enabled more herdsmen
and farmers to travel, which broadened their horizons and opened
their minds," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2007)
