China to draw up policies for Tibet, Xinjiang

BEIJING: China will draw up policies this year to boost the development in Xinjiang and Tibet as well as other Tibetan-inhabited areas, Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday.

"We will focus on formulating and implementing policies for economic and social development in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Tibetan ethnic areas in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces," Wen said in his government work report to the annual session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

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Local government statistics unveiled earlier this year showed that Tibet's gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow by 12 percent to 43.7 billion yuan ($6.4 billion) last year, and Xinjiang's GDP was expected to grow 8 percent to 427 billion yuan, as both the two remote ethnic regions have been recovering from two deadly riots.

The riot in Tibet's regional capital of Lhasa on March 14, 2008 resulted in the deaths of at least 18 civilians and one policeman. It also left 382 civilians and 241 police officers injured, businesses looted and residences, shops and vehicles torched.

The riot in Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi on July 5, 2009 left 197 people dead and more than 1,700 injured.