LHASA -- Chinese leader Xi Jinping outlined the course for Xizang's development during a two-day visit to the plateau region, where he joined locals in celebrating six decades of progress since the autonomous region was established.

It was the first time that a Chinese leader holding concurrent posts of the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended Xizang Autonomous Region founding anniversary celebrations.

Xi last visited the plateau region in 2021, when Xizang marked the 70th anniversary of peaceful liberation.

Amid a tight schedule, Xi met with representatives from all ethnic groups and sectors in Xizang, heard reports from the CPC regional committee and the regional government, attended a gala, and took part in a grand gathering at the signature Potala Palace square in Lhasa.

During these engagements, Xi called on Xizang to continue advancing its four major tasks -- ensuring stability, facilitating development, protecting eco-environment, and strengthening frontiers.

He urged concerted efforts to build a united, prosperous, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful new modern socialist Xizang.

STABILITY

Since assuming the top office, Xi has consistently emphasized safeguarding national unity and fostering ethnic solidarity as the foremost tasks in work related to Xizang.

On Wednesday, after hearing work reports from Xizang's authorities, Xi emphasized the importance of maintaining political and social stability, strengthening ethnic unity, and fostering amity among different religions.

He urged further efforts to advance the building of a community for the Chinese nation in Xizang and to guide Tibetan Buddhism in adapting to socialist society.

The Chinese president called for promoting the standard spoken and written Chinese language, strengthening exchanges among all ethnic groups, and enhancing two-way economic, cultural, and personnel exchanges between Xizang and other parts of the country.

Many of these efforts are taking place at the grassroots level. Pubu Tashi, director of the Barkhor sub-district government in Lhasa, said his colleagues have stepped up work to upgrade infrastructure, improve living conditions, and expand bilingual education.

Pubu Tashi said improved community services will help people live and work in peace and contentment, strengthen their sense of community, and contribute to better-maintained social stability and order.

DEVELOPMENT

On the region's development, Xi said Xizang has achieved remarkable progress in the past six decades, leading to profound changes.

Official figures show that in 2024, Xizang's GDP reached 276.5 billion yuan (about $38.8 billion), 155 times that of 1965 when the autonomous region was established, and registering an average annual growth rate of 8.9 percent.

In 2024, the per capita disposable income of local urban residents reached 55,444 yuan, 121 times that of 1965, while rural residents' per capita disposable income rose by nearly 200 times.

Xi highlighted high-quality development for Xizang and the need to develop competitive plateau industries based on local conditions.

Nestled in the southwest border of China and facing several South Asian nations, Xizang boasts unique advantages in industries such as agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as the clean energy sector.

Xi told local authorities that Xizang should advance major projects such as the hydropower project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and the Sichuan-Xizang Railway project in a "vigorous, orderly and effective manner."

Eyeing Xizang's fragile ecology, Xi called on the region to promote ecological conservation, and to make coordinated efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, expand green development and pursue economic growth, so as to protect "the roof of the world" and "the water tower of Asia."

PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING

Xi underscored the need for coordinating urbanization and rural revitalization, consolidating the gains of poverty eradication, and achieving progress in employment, education, health care, social security, elderly care, childcare and other livelihood issues.

The aim, as he put it, is to further enhance the sense of gain, happiness, and security of people of all ethnic groups in the region.

In the past decades, education, healthcare, and social security have continued to improve. Xizang now offers 15 years of free education from kindergarten to senior high school.

The average life expectancy has more than doubled to 72.5 years.

Champa Gyatso, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, said infrastructure and public services have greatly improved at Sakya Monastery, where he resides, as well as in other monasteries.

"Our access to elderly care, medical services, and housing has been truly ensured," he said.

Xi stressed the importance of upholding the Party's leadership over work related to Xizang.

Speaking at Thursday's grand gathering, the country's top political advisor Wang Huning said Xizang's progress over the past six decades fully demonstrated the strong leadership of the CPC and the clear political strength of China's socialist system.

Over the past six decades, Xizang has received strong support and selfless assistance from the central authorities and other parts of the country. Between 1965 and 2024, the central government allocated a total of 2.6 trillion yuan in fiscal funding to the region.

The system of paired-up assistance for Xizang has been steadily improved, with 64.3 billion yuan in aid funds invested, and 11 groups totaling more than 14,000 officials and professionals dispatched to work in the region, according to Wang, who is a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The remarkable achievements made in Xizang over the past 60 years fully demonstrate that only under the CPC leadership can the region embrace a bright future, Wang said.

During the visit, Xi was also accompanied by Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and director of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee.