In the golden autumn season, farmers in Maizhokunggar County, Lhasa City, are seizing the fine weather to carry out grain harvesting at full speed. Several harvesters are rumbling back and forth in the fields, completing harvesting and threshing simultaneously. Mechanized operations have greatly improved grain collection efficiency, and the autumn harvest work is being comprehensively advanced. [Photo/Tang Bin]

September 23 is the ninth Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival. Amid the joy of harvest overflowing across Xizang, an inspiring piece of news has arrived: "The per capita disposable income of rural residents in Xizang has steadily increased from 5,698 yuan in 2012 to 23,184 yuan in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of 11.4% over 13 years, ranking first nationwide in growth rate." said Basang, Party secretary and director-general of the National Bureau of Statistics Xizang Survey Office.

"This national first place is a concrete manifestation of giving priority to development achievements to farmers and herders. It is also an inevitable result of deepening various reforms in agricultural and pastoral areas and activating various production factors there. Moreover, it is apowerful evidence of safeguarding basic human rights such as the right to subsistence and development and promoting common prosperity." said Yang Jie, associate researcher at the Institute of Economic Strategy of the Xizang Academy of Social Sciences.

For many years, Xizang has consistently taken increasing farmers' and herders' income as the core task of its "three rural" work, building a diversified income-increasing system featuring industrial empowerment, employment quality improvement, policy-based bottom-line guarantees, and assistance. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, a total of 25.46 billion yuan was invested in the agricultural and pastoral sector, and 61.25 billion yuan in rural revitalization subsidy funds was implemented, with more than 80% of aid-Xizang funds and projects directed toward people's livelihoods, the grassroots, and agricultural and pastoral areas. After winning the battle against poverty on schedule, Xizang has continued to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, solidly promote comprehensive rural revitalization, and strive to let farmers and herders obtain tangible and accessible benefits.

Income growth has also quietly changed farmers' and herders' life concepts and consumption patterns. Statistical data show that since 2013, the per capita clothing consumption of farmers and herders in Xizang has increased by 756 yuan, medical and health care expenditures have grown by 713%, and education, culture, and entertainment expenditures have grown by 1,931%. The masses' consumption structure has continued to optimize, reflecting farmers' and herders' new expectations and pursuits for a high-quality life.

A relevant official from the Xizang Autonomous Region Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, Xizang will deeply advance the "seven major actions" for increasing farmers' and herders' income, implement systematic income-increasing policies and measures, and go all out to promote sustained and stable growth of farmers' and herders' income, making the harvest on the snowy plateau more substantial, and farmers' and herders' lives sweeter.

Reporter: Liu Wentao, Zhang Lili, Feng Ji, Tang Qisheng, Geng Ruixian

Translator: Tenzin Seldron, Zhi Xinghua

Reviewer: Drakpa Wangchen, Hu Rongguo