4. Income Level of Farmers and Herdsmen and Poverty Alleviation

The urbanization level of Tibet in 2007 was only 38.3 percent. This means that 61.7 percent of the Tibet population were farmers and herdsmen, who engaged in traditional farming and animal husbandry in rural areas. Facts and statistics show that while raising the urbanization level and the residents' incomes in cities and towns, the Tibet regional government is also making every effort to enhance support for farmers and herdsmen, expecting that through such support and development farmers and herdsmen can fully enjoy the fruits of reform and opening-up, and economic development.

The per capita net income of Tibetan farmers and herdsmen was 3,176 yuan in 2008, 7.1 times and 18.1 times that of 1984 and 1978, respectively. The 30 years from 1978 to 2008 saw an annual average income increase rate exceeding 10 percent, which is quite high. These facts are shown in Fig. 15.[17] Meanwhile, the per capita income from investment and property income of Tibet's rural residents reached 448 yuan in 2007, accounting for 12 percent of their total income (see Fig. 16).