Xizang Autonomous Region develops rapidly in six decades

The Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China has made rapid progress in the six decades since it was founded.

Following an epoch-making democratic reform in 1959, Xizang Autonomous Region was founded in September 1965. With a total area of 1.2 million square kilometers, the region accounts for roughly one-eighth of China's landmass.

As of 2024, Xizang had a permanent resident population of 3.7 million. In the first half of 2025, the region's gross regional product (GRP) totaled 138 billion yuan (about 19.2 billion in U.S. dollars), up 7.2 percent year on year. Xizang's economic growth rate has now ranked among the highest in the country for several consecutive quarters.

Sixty years after its founding, the autonomous region has undergoing tremendous economic development, with its 2024 GRP 155 times that of 1965.

In terms of infrastructure, by the end of 2024, Xizang's total road length reached 124,900 km. The region has 1,359 km of in-service railways, and all of its administrative villages have access to fiber-optic and 4G internet networks.

Xizang is on a high-quality development path suited to its realities. Its development in clean energy, green industry, digital economy, culture and tourism, and other emerging sectors are accelerating.

The region is also dedicated to developing the border regions, revitalizing the remote areas and improving locals' livelihoods so as to shore up security on the national border.

One of the best-preserved ecological zones on Earth and a vital national ecological security barrier, Xizang has made solid efforts in eco-environmental protection, building itself into a highland of ecological civilization in the country.

The autonomous region is home to rich and distinctive ethnic cultures, with a long history and a great number of cultural gems.

The autonomous region's historic development is a reflection of the unity of the Chinese nation, with provinces and municipalities as well as dozens of ministries and state-owned enterprises of the country bringing substantial investment, practical technology and essential talent to Xizang under paired-up assistance.

Going forward, Xizang will continue to follow the leadership of the Communist Party of China, focusing on the four major tasks of ensuring stability, facilitating development, protecting the eco-environment, and strengthening the borders, and building itself into a modern socialist region of unity, prosperity, civility, harmony and beauty.

Xizang Autonomous Region develops rapidly in six decades

Northern China has launched full-scale clearing efforts to ensure smooth and safe traffic after multiple regions experienced the first snowfalls of the winter season.

In Inner Mongolia, snowfall began on Thursday night and continued through Friday morning in the northern and western parts of the autonomous region. Ordos City in the west experienced mild to moderate snow in most areas, with the northern part receiving the most snowfall of over five millimeters.

"The snow removal team has been working around the clock to clear snow and reduce slip hazards on sections prone to icing, including bridges, slopes, and curves. This aims to minimize the impacts of snowfall on road traffic," said Liu Feng, chief of a local highway maintenance station.

Snowfall in Jinan, capital of north China's Shandong Province, has been strengthening since 14:00 on Friday, with the local weather service upgrading the snowstorm warning signal from blue to yellow at 19:20 on the day.

Local authorities prepared over 1,670 snow removal machines for operation and immediately started clearing work as precipitation began.

Meanwhile, in north-central China's Gansu, temperatures in the rural Jishishan County dropped about 10 degrees Celsius as the rest of the province was largely affected by Friday's snowfall.

Gansu is a crucial passageway for traffic between China's eastern and western regions, so local authorities acted quickly to ensure highway safety.

"We applied deicing agents on sharp curves, steep slopes, and bridges, and increased patrols on roads in case any emergency situations may come up," said Che Yifan, deputy chief of a local highway maintenance station.

Snow also covered the Chinese capital Beijing on Friday, prompting emergency responses from local transportation authorities, with over 4,000 personnel and more than 2,600 pieces of machinery being dispatched to carry out the clearing effort.

Prompt clearing efforts begin amid season's first snowfall in northern China