DHARAMSHALA, July 27: A new county established in Tibet on Friday has become the world’s highest county-level administrative unit, China’s state-run Xinhuanews agency said.
Shuanghu County, with an average elevation of 5,000 metres, is being billed as the world’s highest county-level administrative unit by China.
Located in Nagchu region, Shuanghu County was previously administered by Nyima County. The newly formed County is named after the two lakes of Kamru and Racho in its jurisdiction.
The report cited a local head as saying that although the county’s Purog Kangri Glacier, the third largest in the world, has served to draw tourists to the area, the local economy is lackluster due to poor living conditions and transport infrastructure.
The constitution of the People’s Republic of China provides for three levels of government, however, there are in practical five levels of local government: the province, prefecture, county, township, and village.
The historical landmass of Tibet, 2.5 million square kilometres, under China’s rule has been bifurcated into the following administrative units: a) Tibet Autonomous Region, b) Qinghai Province, c) Tianzu Tibetan Autonomous County and Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province, d) Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and Mili Tibetan Autonomous County in Sichuan Province, e) Dechen Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province.
With an average altitude of 4,000 metres or 13,000 feet above sea level, Tibet is also known as the Roof of the World.
Meanwhile, according to the Chinese Ministry of Finance, six local governments, including the so called Tibet Autonomous Region, will be auctioning three-year bonds worth 23.6 billion yuan (3.8 billion U.S. dollars) at a yield of 3.92 percent.
The ministry said that it will be selling the bonds from July 29 to 31, of which 600 million yuan go to TAR.
The ministry plans to sell local government debt worth a combined total of 350 billion yuan in 2013, the most since 2009, “in order to meet growing expenditure demand.”
