(TibetanReview.net, Aug01’24) – Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is the only provincial-level region in the People’s Republic of China where road construction is fully funded by the central government, underlying Beijing’s top priority in ensuring political stability and border security there.
Given this reality, China’s central government invested 325.1 billion yuan (about 45.6 billion US dollars) in road construction in TAR from 1953 to 2023, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency Jul 31, citing the regional government’s information office.
The total length of roads open to traffic in TAR currently stands at 123,300 km, with paved roads accessing 666 townships and 4,596 administrative villages, the report cited the information office as saying at a press conference.
TAR is the only provincial-level region in the PRC where road construction is fully funded by the central government, the report said.
“Over the past 10 years, Xizang has implemented 5,805 projects for rural road construction and built or renovated 58,700 km of rural roads,” the report added, referring to the region by its pinyin name so as to give it a Chinese identity.
The report cited an official from the regional transportation department as saying the TAR will continue to promote the construction of the expressway network and accelerate the connectivity of all cities and key land ports.