http://en.ce.cn/Insight/201608/08/t20160808_14623839.shtml
On July 1 ten years ago, the loud whistling of Z2 train departing from Lhasa Railway Station marked the ending of Tibet's era without railway. So far, The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has run for 10 years safely, overcoming all traffic bottleneck in Tibet and opening the development portal of the Roof of the World. In particular, backing on The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, it extension line Lhasa-Shigatse Railway has been completed and opened to traffic and construction of Lhasa-Nyingchi has been commenced. The grand development blueprint is being achieved step by step, symbolizing that Tibet is marching into the era of railway economy.
"Over the past 10 years, The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has gradually developed to be the main artery linking Tibet and major inland markets in China, an important platform for opening up and external exchange, a significant channel for rapid development of tourism as well as an essential link for improving people's livelihood, which will motivate economic development of Tibet to the greatest extent." Losang Jamcan, chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region, said that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway fills in the gap in railway in Tibet's integrated traffic and transportation system and coordinates and develops together with other transportation modes, such as expressway, greatly reducing the transportation cost and turning resource superiorities into favorable economic conditions.
Railway brings new vigor and vitality to the sluggish snow-covered plateau, bringing a spring of high-speed development for Tibet.
Comparing with that prior to the railway commissioning, the total output value and annual disposable income of farmers and herdsmen in entire Tibet have seen 4 times of increase. The superior resources there are transported to the inland regions and even sold to foreign countries and as a result arise to be the support for sustainable development and cultivating endogenous power in Tibet. More and more tourists have begun to visit Tibet by train, driving the culture- and splendid natural scenery-supported tourist industry to be the development pillar of Tibet.
Though The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has closely connected capital Lhasa with inland China, intraregional connection is still short of effective support of railway traffic and Tibet is greatly desiring for railway construction. Tibet is the only concentrated poverty-stricken area in China and in order to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects simultaneously with other regions all over the country in 2020, the closed and backward traffic condition must be broken to establish a three-dimensional modern traffic system. Especially seizing the opportunities of building the "One Belt and One Road", it is pressing for Tibet to enter into the era of railway transportation.
Tibet has four international ports and one bilateral port, has kept close economic and trade contact with South Asian countries and is a key area for opening-up and development of border areas determined by the state, an important passage for opening up to South Asia and also a significant portal along Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar economic corridor. Losang Jamcan believes that on the construction of the "One Belt and One Road", Tibet has distinctive regional advantages and geographic advantages and that developing railway transportation is a major channel to improve the interconnectivity of Tibet with surrounding countries and also improve construction of local infrastructure.
As The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is opened to traffic, Tibet has also ushered in the upsurge of railway construction.
Lhasa - Shigatse Railway has been put into service since its completion in August 2014; construction of Nyingchi-Lhasa Railway has commenced since June 2015; planning study for Kangting-Nyingchi section in The Sichuan-Tibet Railway and Shigatse-Gyirong section in China-Nepal Railway has been fully initiated. The period of The 13th Five-Year Plan will be the golden period for railway construction and development in Tibet.
Tibet will make great efforts to expand the road network coverage, strengthen construction of outward passageways, speed up the formation of road network frame and basically achieve the overall road network thinking and
development goal up to 2030 of "two vertical lines (Qinghai-Tibet Line and Yushu-Changdu Line) and two horizontal lines (Sinkiang-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet Line and Shiquan River-Nagchu-Changdu-Sichuan-Tibet Line), five exit regions (Sinkiang-Tibet, Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet and Yushu-Changdu) and three exit ports (Gyirong (Zhangmu), Yadong and Pulan). In addition, consistent efforts will also be made to construct the main framework of internal and external main line railway network and develop a multi-channel, high-quality, safe and high-speed railway transport system spreading to all regions so as to satisfy the demand for railway transportation in Tibet to achieve the goal of building a well-off society in an all-around way.
"Efforts will be made in three aspects. First, we will improve the coverage level of region road network, construct a batch of internal region road network lines and improve the road network layout; second, we will raise the interconnectivity level among regions and accelerate the construction of inter-regional main lines and new lines and capacity expansion and renovation of existing lines; third, we will improve the opening-up and interconnectivity level to South Asia, build important transportation channels opening to South Asia centering on railway, advance the construction of port railway and related supporting facilities and improve the opening-up level of Tibet", said Losang Jamcan.
Tibetan railways in operation
Mid-long term railway plan
2030 China
Economy is booming!
Western China, a 2-trillion dollars economy, growing at 8-10% annually, is the focus of Chinese economy in 13th 5-year plan.
An entrepreneur introduces his product to a visitor in Lhasa's makerspace for start-ups on July 26, 2016. The makerspace covers an area of 1,050 square meters with more than 100 working seats. Besides basic working space and start-up training, it provides services such as business registration, intellectual property rights consulting service and legal service.
Tibetan opera actors perform at an opening ceremony celebrating the construction of Lhasa's heating system on April 28, 2012. (Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)
Photo taken on May 23, 2016 shows a cafe where the Potala Palace can be seen in the distance. (Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)
A Tibetan woman weaves traditional Tibetan cloth on March 17, 2010. (Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)
Photo taken on May 17, 2016 shows Liuwu new district of Lhasa. (Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)
Photo taken on May 23, 2016 shows a street of Lhasa at night. (Xinhua/Purbu Tashi)
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