LHASA -- Citizens' rights to vote and to stand for election are strictly protected in Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region, said a white paper released on Friday.

The document, titled "Human Rights in Xizang in the New Era," was released by the State Council Information Office at a press conference held in Lhasa, capital city of the region.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, two elections at the county and township levels have been held in Xizang to elect people's congresses, in which more than 90 percent of eligible voters?— 100 percent in some places — in the region participated in these direct elections, according to the document.

At present, there are 42,153 deputies to people's congresses at four levels in the region, 89.2 percent of whom are from the Tibetan or other ethnic minority groups, the document said.

The region has implemented a system of community-level self-governance, which includes strict requirements for the organization of villagers' and residents' congresses and election committees, voter registration, recommendation and nomination, decisions on candidates, voting, and other procedures, it said.