A work report was delivered last Friday to the first session of the 12th People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region. Here are some highlights：

Economic recovery continued

It is estimated that the gross domestic product of the autonomous region would reach 216.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of about 3 percent. The per capita disposable personal income for urban and rural residents has increased by about 8 percent and 10 percent respectively. The surveyed urban unemployment rate was about 5.5 percent. A series of policies and measures were promulgated and taken to stabilize economic development, and 11.67 billion yuan of funds were either waived, reduced, refunded or subsidized for various types of businesses and people with difficulties, in a bid to stabilize the overall economy.

Key projects started construction

The construction of 22 projects, featuring the delegation of responsibilities to frontline managers for guaranteed quality and completion, was accelerated. The 46 supporting highway projects in the Tibet section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway and the G318 national highway upgrading project all started construction, and the Paizhen town-Motog county highway in Nyngchi was completed.The Suwalong hydropower station, the first 1 million-kilowatt hydropower station in Tibet, started generating electricity; the Pazi water conservancy hub started construction and the Xianghe River water conservancy hub started storing water.

Specialty industries maintained stable growth

The output of grains and vegetables reached 1.07 million tons and 930,000 tons respectively, and that of meat, egg and milk hit 880,000 tons, all setting new records. The output of pollution-free, green, organic and geographic-indication-label agricultural products increased by about 30 percent. The installed capacity of various types of turbine units reached 6.134 million kilowatts and electricity generation volume increased by 30.4 percent over the same period of the previous year. The project of multi-functional cooking utensils started operation. The added value of the digital economy surpassed 20 billion yuan. The public logistics and warehousing center of the autonomous region was completed and put into operation. It is estimated that the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by more than 13 percent and foreign trade increased by 12 percent.

Rural vitalization on the way

The risks of 21,739 people in 5,105 households, who are likely to fall back into poverty, were eliminated. The planting of high quality highland barley reached 2 million mu (133,333 hectares), and the area of high standard farmland reached 3.9 million mu (260,000 hectares). Innovative ways of grain reserve were explored and 35,700 tons of grain were added to the existing reserve. The construction of 200 beautiful, livable villages accelerated pace. A total of 631,000 farmers and herdsmen got the opportunity to change employment and earn 5.56 billion yuan in income, both exceeded the preset goals.

Reform and opening-up deepened

The "21-item" policy on optimizing the business environment was implemented. A mechanism was built for sharing the benefits of resource development. All government services can now be handled online. Newly established market entities reached 28,700 and 45 billion yuan of funds from investment promotion activities were capitalized. The Lhasa Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was upgraded to a national level development zone. The Lhasa comprehensive bonded zone was put into operation. The national Sichuan-Tibet railway innovation center and the Qinghai-Tibet plateau science research center were set up in Tibet.

People's livelihoods constantly improved

A total of 14.74 billion yuan was invested in the "10 major projects of people's livelihoods". Heating supply covered all schools, heated brick beds for farmers and herdsmen were trialed in areas of high altitude, and water supply in agricultural and pastoral areas was upgraded. Investment in education, medical care, culture, housing and assistance to the underprivileged was continuously increased; subsidies in 13 categories were all increased; and 38 items of work related to the improvement of people's livelihoods were all materialized.

Ecological environment substantially improved

Work on delimiting the urban, agricultural and ecological boundaries was completed. An assessment on foundations for carbon emission peaking and carbon neutrality was carried out. A mechanism was established for ice and snow resource protection planning and project approval by higher level authority. Afforestation of the south and north hills of Lhasa reached 140,000 mu (9,333 hectares) in 2022, the first year since the project was started. Good air quality days reached over 99 percent in the seven cities/prefectures of the autonomous region, and water quality of major rivers and lakes all reached or surpassed category-III criteria. Issues raised by the environment supervision team of the central government and other types of inspections were all properly dealt with and the political responsibility for ecological protection was constantly strengthened.

People in border areas enjoyed better life

The construction of four central towns, which were designed to revitalize border areas and enrich the lives of people living there, was started, with scientific function classification and standardization of subsidies for people living in border areas. Standardized water supply works and garbage landfills were all completed; the construction of hardened roads in 30 natural villages started; major towns were all connected to the main power grid; and all villages now have access to postal services, broadband network and 4G telecommunication services.