From Poverty to Prosperity

Creating new industries

The Central Government aims to create reasonable prosperity for all its poverty-stricken areas and lift the remaining 16.6 million poor population out of poverty by 2020. Tibet is more ambitious. The autonomous region aims to eliminate its regional poverty by the end of 2019.

"We will stick to the strictest poverty-relief evaluation mechanism to ensure that the remaining poverty-stricken population of 150,000 people get rid of poverty, all 19 poor counties are removed from the poverty list, and absolute poverty basically eliminated across the region," Qizhala, Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region, said while delivering the work report on January 10.

It's not an easy task, especially for Shuanghu, where 21.9 percent of the population lives under the poverty line. The county is located in the heart of the Changtang National Nature Reserve on the Tibetan Plateau. With an average altitude of 5,000 meters, it is the highest county in the world. Founded in November 2012, it's also China's youngest county. Due to its high altitude and extreme weather, it is scarcely populated and known as "no man's land." The rarified air and lack of facilities such as electricity, water and transportation, prevent local residents from being better-off.

"The quality of life for Shuanghu's residents, compared with those in other poverty-stricken counties, is the lowest in China. To win the battle against poverty, we should pay more attention to the poorest places," Liang Nanyu, Executive Vice Mayor of Shuanghu, told Beijing Review. Liang was sent by China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) to the county to help the development of the place. Since 1994, developed municipalities and provinces have been partnering with counties and cities in Tibet to assist the region. The drive is known as partnership assistance. In 2002, major state-owned enterprises also joined in.

With the CNPC's help, the Shuanghu Government is brainstorming to provide more jobs and boost the economy. One way is to process eggs of shrimps found in saltwater lakes, like the Kyêbxang Co Lake in Shuanghu. The eggs are widely used as "formula milk" for baby fish and shrimps in aquaculture.

In 2018, brine shrimps eggs from the lake fetched 21 million yuan ($3.13 million). Sixty percent of the money went to the fishermen. "It's the main source of Shuanghu's revenue and local residents' income. It's known as the 'purse' of Shuanghu," Liang said.

To create more jobs, 13.8 million yuan ($2.06 million) was invested to build a processing factory, which is expected to be completed in July. "Finished brine shrimp egg products will be available then, adding to the profits," Liang said. Every resident in Shuanghu is expected to get an average additional income of 3,990 yuan ($594) per year.

Brine shrimp egg is rich in eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a fatty acid that can lower the risk of heart diseases and apparently regulate blood fat and sugar as well as prevent insomnia. So the local government is seeking to team up with big pharmaceutical companies to turn it into a health food product. "Processing the eggs will create a reliable and long-term route out of poverty," Liang said.