Guangdong and Fujian Render Aid to Nyingchi

BENGYI

AID PROJECTS IN NYINGCHI

The Central Government held its third national meeting in 1994, discussing more ways and means to aid Tibet. It was agreed that Central Government departments, various provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government should undertake 62 aid projects in various parts of Tibet. Nyingchi, like other parts of Tibet, benefits from this. Of the 62 projects undertaken in the whole of Tibet, 10 are located in Nyingchi. They include the Nyingchi Dongqug Forestry Farm, Bome Yiong Tea Plantation, Nyingchi Bayi Power Plant, Mainling Namyi Hydraulic Power Station, Nyingchi Dongqug Power Station, Nyingchi Cereals Processing Factory, Nyingchi Hotel, and Nang County Middle School.

Nyingchi has changed beyond recognition in recent years. In 1996, seven new streets were built in Bayi, the capital, flanked by chain stores, Karaoke halls, beauty parlors, and fashion shops no different from towns in inland China! "Guangdong and Fujian have done a lot for us," say local people one encounters. "For the construction of the seven streets, for example, they invested 120 million Yuan. "In the past, roads here were muddy and narrow. New streets, spacious and asphalted, come complete with lamps, lawns and sewage systems. "With aid from Guangdong and Fujian, we have built a flood prevention system and water works at a cost of 12 million Yuan, six satellite towns at a cost of 23 million Yuan, six rural primary schools at a cost of 3 million Yuan, one blood bank at a cost of 200,000 Yuan, six clinics.... "Our production output value increases at an annual rate of 15 percent."

AID FROM GUANGDONG PROVINCE. In 1998, Ou Guang, with the Zhaoqing city government in Guangdong Province, led a 24-member provincial delegation to Nyingchi. With them, they brought a loan of 300 million Yuan. Nyingchi is richly endowed with natural resources, but its economy is poorly developed due to being landlocked and having poor access to information. Ou Guang decided to spend the money for the construction of basic infrastructure and the development of education. During the visit, Ou Guang found the prefecture had 882 million cubic meters of timber, over 200 million cubic meters more than in the Greater Hinggan Mountains. And abandoned timber totaled 1 million cubic meters a year! He later managed to get in touch with the Beijing Meier Group and the Beijing Tongcheng Real Estate companies. In mid-June, the Beijing Meier Group and the Beijing Design Institute decided to invest 2 billion Yuan to build a pulp factory in Nyingchi, which is now operating successfully. Ou Guang has also helped in other ways. With his assistance, Guangdong businesses invested some 2 million Yuan to build cultivation farms in Nyingchi, and businesses from elsewhere built a cement works at a cost of 24 million Yuan, which is expected to increase local revenues by over 4 million Yuan a year. With aid from Guangdong, Bayi Power Station is being revamped. Guangdong people also presented gifts to the farmers and herders in Nyingchi in the shape of more than 1,000 agricultural machines, and invested 4 million Yuan to renovate the water works, increasing daily supply from 5,000 to 10,000 tons. The Guangdong Provincial Agricultural Commission dispatched a delegation to visit Nyingchi in mid-June. After six days of inspection, they decided to increase the free aid by 4 million Yuan to build a training center for agrotechnicians, a Tibetan pig farm, and a Tibetan pheasant farm. The Guangdong commission will also donate 150,000 Yuan worth of computers to its counterpart in Nyingchi Prefecture.

AID FROM FUJIAN PROVINCE. Fujian is another inland province known to all in Nyingchi. Since 1994, it has sent 11 provincial leaders to inspect Nyingchi, resulting in 120 aid projects being undertaken. By the end of August 2000, Fujian undertook a total of 120 projects in Nyingchi with total investment of 300 million Yuan. Eighty-two have gone into operation, and construction of others is in full swing. Some 200 million Yuan was used to build infrastructure facilities; some 40 million Yuan to build six km of roads in Bayi; 12 million Yuan to build four km of flood prevention dams; 40 million Yuan to build recreational facilities and shopping centers; and 30 million Yuan to revamp the power grid for rural areas. In addition, Fujian introduced into Nyingchi grass able to withstand severe cold, helped improve the breed of buffalos, and introduced the U-shape leak proof canal. It also invested some 4 million Yuan to build up a flood monitoring system for the Nyang Qu River. Fujian has also done a lot to help upgrade education. It invested 8 million Yuan to build the Nyingchi Prefectural Vocational School; 3 million Yuan to renovate the Nyingchi Prefectural Kindergarten; 5 million Yuan to build the Nyingchi Educational Center; and 5 million Yuan to build 10 rural primary schools. Xiamen University, Fujian Teachers?University, Fuzhou University and Fujian Agricultural University started to enroll students from Nyingchi this year. Fujian has also done much to train secretaries, bookkeepers, medical workers and managers for Nyingchi. For example, hospital doctors were sent for training in surgical operations in Fujian.