August 1 on the green, blossoming and beautiful Gazangtan Grassland people of various nationalities in Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province gathered together to celebrate with festive songs and dances the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

National People's Congress and the State Council sent a message of congratulation for the anniversary. The message reads: For 50 years Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province is politically stable and economically developing. The society is progressing, ethnic groups are united and people's living standards improve continuously. Delightful achievements have been made in various causes. May you, under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Hu Jintao as General Secretary, by holding high the great banners of Deng Xiaoping Theory and being guided by the important thought of Three Represents, put into practice the guiding principles of the Party's Sixteenth National Congress and the Third Plenary Session of its Sixteenth Central Committee, persist in concerted joint efforts and joint development, establish and implement the scientific viewpoint of development, keep pace with the times, advance in a pioneering and creative spirit, continuously speed up the pace of economic and social development and make new contributions to the construction of a prosperous and civilized hometown, the cause of ethnic comity and progress and the construction of a relatively affluent society in a comprehensive way.

Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in the southeast of Qinghai province with an area of 76,442 square kilometers. The average altitude there is above 4,000 meters. Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has six administrative counties including Gande, Jiuzhi, Banma, Dari, Maduo and Maqin. It has a population of 138,600 people, of which Tibetans account for 90.99 percent.

For 50 years since the establishment of the prefecture, especially since the reform and opening up the Guoluo Prefecture Party Committee and government carry out various works under the guideline of "relying mainly on animal husbandry, developing various operations, exploiting resources, adding value through processing and reducing poverty and becoming wealthy". The various economic construction and social undertakings develop vigorously and grow strong gradually. In recent years relying on the particular biological resources of the Qinghai Plateau Guoluo prefecture reinforced the exploitation of hydropower, tourism and mineral resources and preliminarily realized the multi-polar development of economy. In 2003 farmers and herdsmen in Guoluo prefecture had a net per capita income of 1,696.5 yuan, which was 9.1 times that of 1978. The amount of livestock on hand reached 2,284,300 heads prefecture-wide and the gross product of agriculture and animal husbandry reached 336,171,900 yuan. Over 50 years the undertaking of ethnic education in Guoluo prefecture advanced rapidly. Currently there are 73 schools of various kinds and levels. The entrance rate of herdsmen children is 87.3 percent.

Congratulation delegations of the National People's Congress, the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC, the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and relevant departments and the delegation formed by Party, government and military representatives in Qinghai province took part in the celebration activities.

By People's Daily Online