A passenger bus runs on a rural road in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 20, 2009. Tibet has planned to build and upgrade 4,500 kilometers of rural roads to link all its townships and villages by the end of 2019, local authorities said on Jan. 17, 2019. The move is expected to contribute to the ongoing poverty reduction campaign, especially in Tibet's one township and 12 villages that still lack access to roads, according to the region's department of transport. Tibet invested 37.29 billion yuan (about 5.5 billion U.S. dollars) in its rural road projects last year, including building and upgrading 13,000 kilometers of rural roads. By the end of last year, the region's rural roads totaled 68,863 kilometers. A total of 34 townships and 533 villages gained access to asphalt or concrete roads. A total of 180,000 people shook off poverty in Tibet last year amid the region's all-out poverty relief efforts. The region aims to lift 150,000 more people out of poverty and eradicate absolute poverty this year. (Xinhua/Lhaba Cering)