Xizang enters new stage of peace, stability, development: official

BEIJING -- Xizang has entered a new and important stage of achieving long-term peace and stability and promoting high-quality development, said a Chinese official on Friday.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, Xizang has made all-round progress and recorded historic achievements in various undertakings, said Wang Gang, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, at a press conference on the newly released white paper titled "CPC Policies on the Governance of Xizang in the New Era: Approach and Achievements."

Together with the people of the whole country, Xizang has achieved moderate prosperity in all respects, Wang told reporters.

"Development and progress of Xizang in the new era have proved that the Party's policies for the governance of Xizang in the new era are completely correct," Wang noted.

Xizang's GDP reached 213.26 billion yuan (about $29.7 billion) in 2022, 2.28 times of that in 2012 when calculated at constant prices, said Wang, noting that absolute poverty has been eradicated and common prosperity promoted in this autonomous region.

Wang said that historical and cultural heritage in Xizang is under effective protection, solid progress has been made in the region's ethnic and religious undertakings, and it has achieved sustained and stable social development.

The safety index of people of all ethnic groups in the region has stayed above 99 percent for years, according to the official.

Meanwhile, Xizang's eco-environmental security barrier is becoming stronger, and its democracy and rule of law have also been strengthened, he noted.