Graduates serving in Tibet making a difference

Over the past two decades, 11,751 college graduates have served in different sectors of the Tibet autonomous region, contributing to its overall development, regional authorities said at a news conference in Lhasa on Wednesday.

The volunteer campaign to mobilize college graduates to serve in China's undeveloped western regions was launched in 2003 by the Communist Youth League of China, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. Tibet has been a beneficiary.

"This marks the 20th anniversary of the implementation of the country's Western Project in Tibet. It has been an important channel for cultivating talent in the region," said Dawa Tsering, deputy Party secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Youth League.

Volunteer college graduates have contributed greatly to the improvement of talent and have promoted exchanges, the interaction and integration of various ethnic groups, he said.

"The project has also greatly contributed to the region's long-term stability and high-quality development," he said.

Of the college graduates sent to work in the region so far, 3,937 chose to continue working in Tibet after their service periods ended, accounting for 33.5 percent of the total.

"These college graduates have been working in all 68 counties and districts of the region's seven cities and prefectures, and they have served in sectors including social management, education, health, youth, agriculture, animal husbandry, water conservation, poverty alleviation and rural revitalization," Dawa Tsering said.