Qamdo Geared Toward the 21st Century

DORJE CERING

Fifty years ago, the Qamdo Prefecture, like other parts of Tibet, followed the system of separate temporal and religious administration. Imperialist forces were rampant there, and foreign plundering of local resources was a serious problem confronting the region.

Such a situation lasted until in 1950, when Qamdo was liberated by the PLA, and returned to the embrace of the motherland. Over the past 50 years, the prefecture has followed the socialist system, and has made impressive achievements.

RICH HOMELAND. Located in eastern Tibet,the Qamdo Prefecture, tucked away in the Henduan Mountains and dissected by the Jinshajiang, Lancanjiang and Nujiang rivers, covers an area of 108,600 square km. On its eastern side lies Sichuan, with Yunnan to the south and Qinghai in the north.

The Qamdo Prefecture exercises jurisdiction over 11 counties composed of 118 counties and 24 towns, with a total population of some 600,000, coming from the Tibetan, Han, Hui, Naxi, Moinba, Lhoba and 15 other ethnic groups.

Mineral ores. There are 70 major types of mineral ores with huge reserves at 96 sites, including gold, silver, copper, iron, molybdenum, uranium, tin, cobalt, arsenic, coal, crystal, jade and marble.

Forty-seven sites have massive reserves. The Yulong Copper Mine, for example, has reserves amounting to 6.5 million tons.

Animals. Blessed with vast pasturelands covering an area of 5.62 million hectares, the Qamdo Prefecture has some 3 million animals, including yaks, sheep, horses and donkeys. Each year it supplies the market with 820,000 animals.

Forests. Forests are found in all 11 counties. Timber reserves amount to 364 million cubic meters. There are some 20 kinds of major tree species, including firs, spruces, pines and birches. Economic forests include walnuts, pomegranates, oranges, apples, pears and grapes. The prefecture is also rich in mushrooms.

Medicinal herbs. They come in 1,200 varieties, with 730 types exploitable, such as licorice root, rhizome of wind-weed, fritillary bulb, rhizome of Chinese gold thread, snow lotus, rhubarb, angelica root, rot of hairy asiabell, and pseudo-ginseng. The prefecture also abounds in animal parts that can be processed into medicine, including musk, pilose antler and snow frog. Tibetan medicine processed from such ingredients have impressive medical effect. They include Pearl 70, Changjor and Zhongbao.

Tourism resources. The prefecture boasts strangely shaped peaks with soaring waterfalls, picturesque lakes, folklore unique to the prefecture, ancient monasteries, stone carvings, and tangka painting scrolls.

BLUEPRINT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY. Since the 1980s, the Central Government has had a policy of farmers owning land and herders owning their animals. This yields good economic results and the locals now enjoy better lives.

The Qamdo Prefecture has many backbone enterprises in the fields of power, cement, coal, construction, forestry industry, printing, food processing, and pharmaceuticals.

Four strategies. In the new century, the Qamdo Prefecture will follow the "4-6-4" strategies:

Four strategies: construction of basic infrastructure, comprehensive development of agriculture, exploitation of resources with huge reserves, and development of science and technology;

Six pillar industries: agricultural, animal husbandry and forestry resource processing, tourism, tertiary industries, construction and construction materials, Tibetan medicine, mining,

Four key works to be done: development of non-State-owned economic sectors, opening to the outside world, market circulation, and ecological protection.

Blueprint for 2015. In accordance with the above four strategies, the Qamdo Prefecture has worked out a blueprint for 2015:

Annual average economic development: 15 percent;

GDP for 2005: 3 billion Yuan, doubling that in 2000;

Grain output: 199,000 tons, an annual average increase of 5 percent;

Meat production: 73,000 tons, an annual average increase of 13.4 percent;

Per-capita income of farmers and herders: 2,100 Yuan, an annual increase of 7 percent;

Per-capita income of urban residents: 7,500 Yuan, an annual increase of 6 percent;

Various townships and villages have access to highways and telephone services, and own TVs and radios, with the radio and TV coverage reaching more than 30 percent;

Urban and rural power grid installed generating capacity: 100,000 KW, an increase of 220 percent.

It is intended that rural areas will enjoy a good foundation for agricultural modernization. There is also to be an improvement in the ecological environment and enhanced urbanization.

Efforts to be made for the attainment of above goals:

Further building roads. Highway mileage is to reach 11,554 km in 15 years, including 4,523 km of national and provincial highways, and 7,031 km of high-grade highways.

Development of hydraulic, solar, and wind power. In the Qamdo Prefecture there are two autonomous regional power stations, 10 county-level power plants and 48 rural hydraulic power plants. In the coming five years, efforts will be made to build more power stations to meet local needs.

Optical fiber cable connections to all counties. In five years, an overwhelming majority of townships should have access to direct dial telephone services.

Actively developing tourism. Qamdo is set to be an international tourist attraction in 10 years.

Strengthening environmental protection. Qamdo is fragile in its ecological environment, suffering from comparatively serious soil erosion. Efforts will be made to plant more trees and ban wanton felling.