Cangqung (left) poses with her son Qoipei Cering in Mingma village of Lhaze county, Shigatse, Tibet autonomous region; troupe members perform for Mingma residents at a relocation site. In 2016, all Mingma residents relocated to a new village in pursuit of development. Since relocating, Cangqung and her family members now have access to a leisure square, activity center, school and other amenities. She has opened a store of her own, earning 10,000 yuan ($1,476.06) annually. She is also entitled to dividends from a village cooperative. Photograph clicked on Aug 2. [Photo/Xinhua]

The local population has increased from about 1.37 million in 1965 to 3.51 million in 2019, with ethnic Tibetans still forming an overwhelming majority. Meanwhile, the average lifespan of Tibetan people has increased from 35.5 years in the 1950s, to 68 years in 2014 and 70.6 years now, all thanks to economic development.

In the past, difficult natural conditions ensured that Tibet remained poor. In 2010 it was dotted with a wide range of poverty-stricken areas and had the widest range of poverty-stricken areas in China. Around 32.33 percent of Tibet's inhabitants were poor before the central government launched the targeted poverty-alleviation campaign in 2012. However, thanks to preferential policies and central funds, 74 counties in Tibet were lifted out of poverty, and extreme poverty eradicated there in 2019.