BEIJING, February 1 – Tibet will speed up the construction of small towns to attract herders and farmers to settle down, the chairman of the Tibetan regional government, Legqog, said Saturday, according to state media.
With around 81 percent of its population living in the countryside, Tibet is one of the least urbanised regions in China. On average, 62.3 percent of the Chinese population is rural.
In the eastern Tibetan prefecture of Nyingchi, more than 10 small towns have been built in recent years and the government gives subsidies to herders and farmers wishing to move in, and offers them employment opportunities, Legqog said according to Xinhua news agency.
Legqog, a Tibetan, heads the Tibetan regional government but in reality power remains in the hands of the Han Chinese secretary of the local communist party branch, Guo Jinlong.
The government plans to build a series of towns in the north of Tibet along the new railway under construction which will link Golmud in Qinghai province to the north with Lhasa.
“More and more Tibetan farmers and herdsmen have moved into towns as Tibet’s economy has grown and their living standards have improved in recent years,” according to Xinhua.
In the towns, Tibetans are in contact with Chinese migrants, whose numbers are steadily growing in the region. In Lhasa, Han Chinese already make up the majority of the city’s population. These migrants are considered part of the “floating population” and do not appear in official statistics.
China, which has ruled Tibet since 1951, has been accused of trying to wipe out its Buddhist-based culture through political and religious repression and a flood of ethnic Chinese immigration.
