On October 20, 2021, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the Event of MFA Presenting Tibet to the World and delivered a speech titled "New Development in Xizang, New Contribution by China, and New Opportunities for the World".
Wang Yi said that 70 years ago, under the relentless efforts of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xizang realized peaceful liberation and transformed itself from a backward serfdom society to a moderately prosperous socialist one, creating a political miracle of "a historic leap of thousands of years". In the past 70 years, under the leadership of the CPC, people from various ethnic groups in Xizang have worked together and strived with one heart to create a strong sense of community among the Chinese nation, and created a miracle of "a historic leap of thousands of years" in development, bringing earthshaking changes of historic importance in the fields of economy, society and people's livelihood.
Wang Yi said that today's Xizang has become the epitome of the success of China's leapfrog development. The region's GDP has grown by over 300 times, the rural per capita disposable income has increased by more than 400 times, and its average life expectancy has more than doubled to 72 years from 35 years. The people in Xizang have realized the goal of a happy and moderately prosperous life for all this year as scheduled, together with people from other ethnic groups of the country.
Today's Xizang has become a vivid portrayal of the progress in China's democracy and human rights. People of all ethnic groups are entitled to full and equal rights in political, economic and social fields. 90 percent of the deputies to the People's Congress and members of the committees of the political consultative conference at all levels are ethnic minorities. Freedom of religious belief and the culture of minority groups are under full protection and further development.
Today's Xizang has become an important window for China's opening-up and cooperation with the world. From 2016 to 2020, Xizang received nearly 160 million tourists from home and abroad. A series of international conferences, such as the China Tibet Tourism and Culture Expo, Forum on the Development of Tibet, China and Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation, has demonstrated great vitality and achieved fruitful results in the Belt and Road cooperation with neighboring countries.