Xizang official: Ending feudal serfdom in Xizang 'a monumental leap' in human civilization

LHASA -- Gama Cedain, chairman of the people's government of Xizang autonomous region in Southwest China, said on Thursday that the abolition of feudal serfdom in Xizang is not only a significant milestone in the region's social development and human rights progress but also a monumental leap in the history of human civilization and global human rights.

He made the remarks while delivering a speech to mark the 66th anniversary of the democratic reform that abolished feudal serfdom in Xizang, which falls on Friday this year.

Sixty-six years ago, 95 percent of Tibetans lived as serfs and slaves, regarded by the "three major estate-holders" as nothing more than "speaking animals." In the streets of Lhasa, one in every eight people was a beggar. On the northern Tibetan grasslands, herders unable to pay the "head tax" faced brutal punishment, with some having their limbs hacked off and left to struggle for survival, the chairman said.

Xizang's democratic reform in 1959 shattered the centuries-old feudal theocratic serfdom, which had long wielded both religious and political power.

The region's GDP has grown from 174 million yuan in 1959 to 276.49 billion yuan (about $39.5 billion) in 2024. The population of Xizang has increased from 1.23 million in 1959 to 3.7 million in 2024, with life expectancy rising from 35.5 years to 72.5 years.

Today, Xizang stands as an exemplar in education, with a 15-year free public education system in place from preschool through high school. Telemedicine services are available at all township-level clinics. In 2024, the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents reached 55,444 yuan and 21,578 yuan, respectively.

Moreover, the region's social security system is consistently improving, rural development in high-altitude areas is advancing steadily, and significant progress has been made in ecological civilization conservation, he noted.