(TibetanReview.net, Apr16’26) – China said Apr 15 that its Qinghai–Tibet Railway had transported more than a hundred million metric tons of goods in and out of Tibet autonomous region since its opening in 2006, with the growth in outbound goods rising much faster, and reflecting the colonial nature of this mode of opening up the region.
The Qinghai–Xizang Railway has transported more than 100 million metric tons of goods in and out of the Xizang autonomous region since opening in 2006, according to China Railway Qinghai–Xizang Group, reported the official chinadaily.com.cn Apr 14, using the sinicized term “Xizang” for “Tibet”.
The report cited data from the railway group as showing that from just 361,000 tons in 2006, annual throughput reached 8.31 million tons by 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 18%.
The report said Inbound cargo, mainly coal, cement, construction materials, and grain, had risen from 340,000 to 6.9 million tons, while outbound freight had expanded faster, from 21,000 to over 1.4 million tons.
Significantly, the report did not say what the outbound goods have mainly consisted of. Given the fact that China is mining globally significant amounts of various type of minerals, including especially lithium, rare earths, copper and its byproducts such as gold, iron, and so forth, these are bound to make up the bulk of the railway’s haul out of Tibet.
The import into Tibet of coal, cement, construction materials, and grain show the other side of the colonial nature of the Chinese railway infrastructure in Tibet. These are needed to open up and develop the region to meet the requirements of the rising population of Chinese immigrants and the armed forces, as well as to build dams to harness the region’s massive hydropower potential to generate what is called clean energy for China.
The only Tibetan products going out of Tibet by this railway mentioned by the report are “specialty products such as highland barley and Tibetan beverages” which are enabled “to reach national markets”.
As China’s mining activities in Tibet keeps increasing, so also is its railway infrastructure facilities. The report said that capacity and network coverage had improved significantly, with the Golmud–Lhasa section now having 58 stations, maximum traction loads of 2,880 tons, and 17 daily train pairs.
With the integration of the Lhasa–Shigatse and Lhasa–Nyingchi railways, a Y-shaped backbone network has taken shape, the report added.
In the western half of Tibet proper, which China calls Xizang, the rail network now exceeds 1,000 kilometres, with five freight stations and strengthened hubs in Lhasa, Shigatse, and Nyingchi. A system of seven regional freight centres and 47 service outlets covers Qinghai, Gansu, and Xizang, the railway group has said.