In 2017, over 12 billion yuan (about $1.9 billion) was earmarked for developing industries and creating jobs in Tibet. The investment directly helped up to 70,000 people move above the poverty line, according to Tibetan government statistics.

Mima Tsering, 19, lives with his family at a village in the outskirts of Lhasa, capital of Tibet. He had barely finished junior middle school when his father fell ill and plunged the family into debt.

The young man then learnt mask-making techniques from old masters in a craftsmen's cooperative. Now he makes 2,500 yuan ($400) every month.

"With my monthly pay, my family did not have to live on minimum wage support," he said.

"Mask-making is a local cultural heritage. The government invested 1.8 million yuan and private investment was around 600,000 yuan in the cooperative. Most apprentices are young men like Mima Tsering," said Shilo, the cooperative manager. "After young people master the skills, they can help sustain their families while passing on ethnic culture. This is what we call using cultural projects for poverty relief."

For poor people living in uninhabitable areas, the solution is resettlement.

Sanyou village, at the bank of the Lhasa River, is the first such resettlement in Tibet. A total of 712 people moved there in July 2016 from infertile land and found jobs that could ward off poverty.

A park, a clinic, and a kindergarten were built in the neighborhoods.

"The new home has a living room, several bedrooms and a hall to worship Buddha. There is also cement road and running water, which we did not have at my old home in Dagar township," Tsamjo Tashi said.

Since the settlement was built, a cow farm, a Tibetan chicken farm and vegetable farms have been founded to create jobs.

Tashi makes 1,500 yuan feeding cattle each month and shares dividends from the cooperative at the end of every year.

According to the government plan, during the 13th Five-Year period (2016-2020), a total of 263,000 people will be resettled for better living.

In Tibet, poverty-relief efforts have been combined with environment conservation. A third of the area in Tibet is nature reserves. The regional government hires farmers and herders as part-time wildlife and forest rangers in the reserves.

By the end of 2017, 700,000 people were on the government payroll. Each employee receives an annual salary of 3,000 yuan ($474) on average.

"People in Tibet will not be satisfied at only having enough to eat. The region will enter a moderately-prosperous society," Yin Fenshui said.

Tibet will continue to improve the living and working conditions for the people, raise education and medical quality.

"The lives of poor people will only get better," he said.