3.30 lakh people live in dire poverty in Tibet; State media

About 1.5 lakh people in over 1,700 villages were lifted out of poverty in Tibet last year, official media reported here.

A total of 1.50 lakh people were pulled out of poverty last year, bringing the impoverished population in the region from 5.90 lakh in 2015 to 3.30 lakh last year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

A total of 16.7 billion yuan (USD 2.6 billion) was invested in 2017 to help locals increase income, relocate and support the development of over 1,700 anti-poverty projects in the region, the report said.

People, in a total of 2,440 villages still live in dire poverty in Tibet, and the region plans to invest 11.7 billion yuan this year to lift another 2,100 villages out of poverty, the report said.

It also aims for an annual growth of 16 per cent in disposable income for people living under the poverty line, which is defined as a per capita annual income of 2,300 yuan at 2010 prices.

More than 85 per cent of the land in Tibet is located more than 4,000 metres above sea level, the report said.

The region will also continue to expand social security coverage to improve living conditions for people with disabilities, no income, inability to work, as well as for teenagers under 16 and senior people above 60.

There were around 30 million Chinese still living below the national poverty line at the end of last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.