Over 20,000 people gathered in Lhasa Thursday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region.

The visiting central delegation was led by the chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top advisor.

In a speech on behalf of the central authority, Jia Qinglin says the system of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities is one of the three major steps for Tibet's development.

“In the middle of the last century, the Tibet Autonomous Region has witnessed three major social transformations of historical significance. They are the peaceful liberalization in 1951, the adoption of democratic reform in 1959 and the establishment of the TAR in 1965. These changed the outlook and destiny of Tibet, and also were big steps forward for its social and economic development.?

The old Tibet lived under the despotic feudal serf system, which was a combination of government and religion and the dictatorship of lamas and nobles.

It seriously handicapped the development of social productivity, and kept Tibet extremely backwards and out of touch for a long time.

To this point, China has set up 155 autonomous local areas, including 5 autonomous regions. The Tibet Autonomous Region has a population of more than 2 million. Over 95% of them are Tibetans.

China's Ethnic Regional Autonomy System helps set up systems of self-government and gives minorities the autonomy to handle local and internal affairs, based on the principle of equality among nationalities and under the leadership of Central People's Government.

The Tibet Autonomous Region was established on September 1st, 1965.

CRI ENGLISH