February 8

On Feb. 8, 2001, Zhu Rongji, the Premier of the State Council, approved the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on a working conference of the state council. He stressed the significance importance of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in Tibet’s economy growth, economic and cultural exchanges between Tibet and other regions in the country and national unity.

The total length of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province to Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, reached 1,956 kilometers. The 814-kilometer Xining-Golmud section was completed in 1979 and put into use in 1984. The section to be constructed from Golmud City in Qinghai Province to Lhasa is 1,142 kilometers long.

On Feb. 8, 1999, the Department of Education in Tibet Autonomous Region announced that more than 310,000 primary aged children were studying at 810 primary schools in the region, with the enrollment rate of 81.3 percent.