GANNAN, Gansu, May 1 (China Tibet Online) Du Qinglin, vice chairman of the China’s political advisory body, made an inspection from Apr. 27 to 29 in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China’s Gansu Province.

The Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political and Consultative Conference stressed that the most formidable task in reaching the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects is in the countryside, and stressed that the focus of economic development in the countryside is in the impoverished areas, especially the Tibetan areas.

Industries with comparative advantages must be developed, infrastructure must be improved, and more efforts must be made to promote public service in order to achieve targeted poverty reduction in these areas, Du said.

This year marks the fifth year of poverty alleviation in Tibet Autonomous Region and the Tibetan-inhabited areas of Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu provinces.

In June 2010, the State Council in Beijing convened the Work Conference on Poverty Alleviation and Development in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas in the four provinces.

The conference proposed to link Tibet and the Tibetan-inhabited areas as one impoverished area in order to promote its development through a comprehensive approach.

Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas in the four provinces are the biggest poverty-stricken areas in China, including one autonomous region and four provinces; 19 cities (prefectures); 151 counties due to poor natural conditions, a fragile ecology and underdeveloped economy .

Recently, the state adopted a number of measures in support of poverty alleviation in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas. According to Chinese Financial News, since 2012, Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas in the four provinces have been actively implementing measures to reduce poverty and achieve steady growth through various loans. By the end of 2014, their financial institutions granted micro-credit loans totaling 12.56 billion yuan (2.02 billion US dollars), a 47.66 percent increase year on year.

Meanwhile, the state has increased investment in transportation construction in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas. In 2013, a highway to Medog County in the Tibet Autonomous Region was open to traffic, ending the county’s history as the "only island on the plateau". Data shows that there are more than 70,000 kilometers of highway in Tibet, with a county-level passenger traffic rate of 98.6 percent, and a township-level passenger traffic rate of 56 percent.

Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas in the four provinces have also focused on the development of education in poverty reduction efforts. Each student at the Number One Primary School in Dechen County of Yunnan Province can receive 3,000 yuan (483.3 US dollars) per year in subsidies. Room and board is free. Currently the rate of enrollment of school-age children for primary and middle schools in Deqen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is close to 100 percent.

In recent years, Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas in the four provinces have rapidly developed institutions that care for the elderly. In Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, there are currently 31 nursing homes that provide more than 1,000 beds. There are already 333 elderly living in those homes, the majority of whom are ethnic Tibetans. There are currently more than 4,000 elderly in the prefecture who receive governmental support.

According to China Economic Net, Tibet met the target of achieving economic growth rate of 11.7 percent in the first half of 2014, higher than 7.4, the average growth rate of other 23 provinces in the country. If this rate could be kept, it would be hopeful that Tibet and four Tibetan-inhabited areas would meet the goal that "by 2020 poverty is basically reduced, and the per capita increase rate of farmers’ and herders’ income surpasses the national average".