The policy of the “New Socialist Countryside” is released and deemed a top priority of the Chinese government. They aim to continue their plans for poverty alleviation and socio-economic development. The People’s Republic of China created goals to “rapidly increase the living standards of rural Tibetans through access to centralized infrastructure; providing a boost to the under-developed economy of China’s West, and address the PRC’s pressing environmental challenges.”5
China starts to relocate Tibetans to ‘socialist villages’ in order to establish control in disputed border regions. The Chinese government aims to turn the nomadic herders of the Tibetan plateau towards a sedentary and modern way of living.1
A report states that over 2,000,000 Tibetnans have been relocated into socialist housing throughout the Tibetan Autonomous Region. At this point already, the mass movement had undoubtedly altered the traditional cultural lifestyle of Tibetans.1
China began its large-scale program relocating and rehousing Tibetans under the idea that they would have improved living conditions. Effectively, nomadic herders experienced sedentarization as they moved to locations where they were unable to continue their lifestyle and work. Additionally, they were unable to pay for new housing that costs an average of $6,000 USD with an average annual income of around $320 USD. China planned to resettle 250,000 of Qinghai province's farming and herding population.2
This resettlement program was a demonstration that the Chinese government still cared for Tibetans following the riots of 2008. The new policy would relocate around 30% of the remaining pastoralist population in Zeku county each year.?
The Benefit the Masses campaign deployed 20,000 officials from the Chinese government in order to carry out "intrusive surveillance of people, widespread political re-education, and establish partisan security units." This was done under the guise that the officials came to investigate and improve the "rural living standards."" However, in reality, they monitored and discriminated against those who were "perceived as potentially disloyal."4
With this policy, the Chinese government "announced plans to relocate over 100,000 Tibetans from their homes by 2030." This is a continuation of earlier policies which aim to "preserve the environment." Specifically, this measure is designed to relocate Tibetans living at 4,800 meters or higher3