Overview

For a long time, farming and pasturing were the mainstay industries of Tibet and, until the beginning of the 1990s, the primary industry held the most important position in economic development. At the beginning of this century, Tibet speeded up the adjustment of its industrial structure and industries with plateau characteristics such as tourism, Tibetan medicine, and processing of livestock products emerged as new engines of economic growth, maintaining sustainable, fast, harmonious and healthy development. According to statistics, in 2005, the total value of gross production in the Tibet region reached 25.06 billion Yuan, about 200 times greater than that before the peaceful liberation and up 12.2 percent over 2004 in comparable prices, with the added value of primary industry being 4.787 billion Yuan, up 4.8 percent; that of the secondary industry 5.945 billion Yuan, an increase of 13.5 percent and that of tertiary sector 14.328 billion Yuan, up 14.9 percent. For five straight years, the economy of Tibet maintained a growth rate of more than 12 percent, higher than the national average level over the same period. The per capita GDP of Tibet in 2005 reached 9,098 Yuan, up 10.8 percent, and there is no doubt that Tibet is in the midst of the best period of development and stability in its history achieving great-leap-forward development and prolonged political, economic and social stability.

In the following five years, regarding the bearing capacity and development potential of resources and the environment and according to the different requirement of optimizing, emphasizing, restricting and forbidding development, Tibet will further adjust and optimize the production structure and create the central Tibet economic zone centered on Lhasa City, Xigaze City, Shannan, Nyingchi, and Nagqu Prefecture, an eastern economic zone centered on Qamdo Prefecture and western economic zone centered on Ngari Prefecture, and gradually form a new structure of regional development with vivid local characteristics. In 2010, it hopes to see the total productive value of the whole region increase by 12 percent and the net per capita income of farmers and herders increase by 13 percent annually, so that the per capita GDP of the region and the net per capita income of farmers and herders will reach the average level of the entire nation.

Financial revenues

Through construction over the past five decades, especially the last 20-odd years of reform and opening up, the Tibetan economy has gradually evolved from a structure dependent on "blood transfusion" to one capable of "producing blood". In 1988, the zero record in local financial revenue was broken. Tibet’s financial revenue reached 1.433 million Yuan in 2005, a rise of 19.5 percent over the previous year. This includes ordinary budgeted income amounting to 1.203 billion Yuan, up 20.1 percent. Financial expenditures reached 18.916 billion Yuan, an increase of 39 percent over 2004. This includes ordinary budgeted expenditures totaling 18.545 billion Yuan, up 38.6 percent.

In 2001, tax revenues amounted to only 887 million Yuan; the figure rose to 1.582 billion Yuan in 2005, up 23 percent over the previous year or an increase of 295 million Yuan. In 2001, only 50 county-level taxation bureaus in the region each enjoyed a tax income of 1 million Yuan; in 2005, however, all bureaus reached this level and 24 enjoyed a tax income of 5 million Yuan, while 14 reached the 10 million Yuan mark. From 2001 to 2005, the taxation departments in the region achieved an income of 5.87 billion Yuan, an annual average gain of 14 percent, or 6.2 percent of the GDP that reached 94.601 billion Yuan in the same period. This helped with the local economic development.

Tabelle einfügen

The goal of Tibet’s taxation work is: Local tax revenues increasing by 15 percent per year, reaching 2.414 billion Yuan by 2010, double the 2005 level; local expenditures totaling 31.61 billion Yuan, an increase of 71 percent over 2005.

Agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry

Agriculture

The cultivated area in Tibet now reaches 230,000 hectares. In 2005, farmland sown to cereals was 177,680 hectares, some 2,110 hectares less than the previous year. Of this, farmland sown with qingke barley reached 120,270 hectares, an increase of 160 hectares; that of wheat 42,000 hectares, an increase of 1,360 hectares; that of rape 26,000 hectares, an increase of 1,730 hectares; that of vegetables 18,000 hectares, an increase of 2,890 hectares. Grain production in 2005 reached 933,900 tons, a fall of 4.5 percent from the previous year; production of rapeseeds was 61,200 tons, an increase of 13.5 percent; production of vegetables was 429,200 tons, an increase of 43.1 percent.

At the end of 2005, farm and animal husbandry machinery power reached 2.31 million kW, an increase of 20.5 percent over the previous year. The number of tractors reached 85,678; the effectively irrigated farmland area reached 162,590 hectares, with the irrigated area making up over 65 percent of the total; power generated for the farming and livestock breeding area reached 63.54 million kW, an increase of 7.7 percent.

Tibet plans to develop agricultural business unique to itself, and a processing industry in the next five years. Efforts will be made to develop vegetable farms in the suburban areas, and orchards and forest resources in the southeastern part. The mode featuring companies, farms and farmers will be adopted, competitive agricultural businesses supported and intensive farm produce processing developed to raise added value.

Animal Husbandry

The Tibet Autonomous Region is one of the five major pasturelands in China. Natural grasslands total 82 million hectares, or 23 percent of the national total. The livestock in Tibet mainly comprise yak, cattle, pien niu (offspring of a bull and a female yak), horse, donkey, sheep and pig. Livestock products are material base for the livelihood of Tibetan people, main resources for export, and major raw materials of the textile and processing industries.

In 2005, Tibet had 24.14 million head of domestic animals in stock, a fall of 950,000 head from the previous year. This included 6.32 million cows (an increase of 190,000), and 16.98 million sheep (a fall of 1.18 million). In the year, the output of pork, beef and mutton reached 214,600 tons, an increase of 3.1 percent and that of dairy products 270,000 tons, an increase of 3 percent. The per-capita share of meat and milk reached 76.1 kg and 95.7 kg, respectively 10.1 kg and 27.4 kg higher than the national average.

From 2006 to 2010, Tibet will stress development of seven special items, including wool producing goats in northwest Tibet, yaks in northeast Tibet, goats in central and north Tibet, forest resources and medicinal herbs in southeast Tibet, quality cereals, and oil-bearing crops in central Tibet, as well as farm produce and sideline occupation products in the suburban areas, Tibetan pigs and Tibetan chickens. This is aimed at the further development of agriculture, animal husbandry, and the economy in the farming and livestock breeding areas.

Forestry

Tibet ranks fifth in Chin in terms of forest areas. It boasts 7.17 million hectares of forestland with 2.09 billion cubic meters of timber stock, a figure making it first in China. Protection and construction of Tibet’s ecological environment is vitally important to the environment in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the southwest neighboring countries and even to the whole globe.

To better conserve natural forests, the counties of Gyangda, Kongqug and Mangkam in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River were officially included in a national project for conserving natural forests in 2000. The Tibet Autonomous Region has attached importance to the project. Despite tight finance, it managed to put in 10 million yuan for growing saplings, investigating forest resources, and relocating residents of the project site. In 2005, the Tibet Autonomous Region planted 14,750 hectares of trees. They include 2,910 hectares of timber forest, 2,730 hectares of economic froests, and 8,890 hectares of forest belts.

Industry and building industry

Electric power generation, mining, light industry and textiles, and ethnic handicrafts are the four mainstay industries regulated by Tibet Autonomous Region. In 2005, the added value of the enterprises in towns and above reached 1.744 billion Yuan, up 14.9 percent over 2004, and the output value was 3.113 billion Yuan, an increase of 14.2 percent. The output value of light industry was 1.145 billion Yuan, up 17.6 percent; that of the heavy industry was 1.968 billion Yuan, up 11.8 percent, and that of the State-owned and State-controlled enterprises stood at 2.288 billion Yuan, up 8.7 percent over 2004. The output sales rate of industrial enterprises in the towns and above was up to 92.2 percent.

In 2005, the profit of the industrial enterprises above designated size in Tibet reached 368 million Yuan, up 18.6 percent over 2004. The profit of State-owned and State-controlled enterprises was 284 million Yuan, up 14.2 percent; that of collective enterprises reached 750 million Yuan, an increase of 33.5 percent; that of joint-stock enterprises stood at 92 million Yuan, up 0.7 percent.

Electric Power

In recent years, with the great-leap-forward in economic and social development, the power generating capacity has been greatly increased. From 2001 to 2005, total investment in key power projects in Tibet reached 3.826 billion Yuan, the installed generating capacity was 188,500 kW among which, that of the newly opened Jinhe River Power Station stood at 60,000 kW and the installed capacity of the new No.5 generating unit of Yamzhog Yumco Power Station was 22,500 kW. By the end of 2006, it is planned that the installed capacity of the first unit of Zhigung Hydroelectric Power Station will be 100,000 kW and that of the Shiquanhe Hydroelectric Power Station will reach 60,000 kW. Meanwhile, the total investment of the four projects of power grid construction—including the central Tibet power grid, power supply for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (Tibet section), the construction of the Qamdo power grid, the power transformation and distribution project from Xigaze to Lhaze—will total about 928 million Yuan.

According to the statistics, by the end of 2005, the total installed generating capacity reached 500,000 kW, up 150,000 kW from 2000, in which, that of the prefectural grid was 330,000 kW. The population with access to electricity increased to 1.72 million from 800,000 in 2000. The annual electricity consumption of Tibet reached 1.35 billion kWh, a rise of 85 percent over 2000, in which, the capacity of the central Tibet grid rose to more than 200,000 kW from 90,000 kW in 2000.

Since entering the 21st Century, the rural areas of Tibet have seen large-scale construction of small hydroelectric power stations. In the past five years, by carrying out the plan of small hydroelectric power stations and through the agricultural power grid transformation project, the Irrigation Department has added 55,000 kW of installed generating capacity and reconstructed 5,520 kW of existing installed capacity, which have solved the electricity supply problems of 330,000 in 166 towns and 883 countries, and improved those of another 90,000. At present, all towns with water resources have been basically electrified and the electrified rate of the countries has also been greatly raised.

At the same time, depending on aid from the electric power system of the whole country and its own efforts, Tibet has given impetus to the technical advancement and more than 200 million Yuan was used for technical innovation, which greatly improved automation of the Tibet power grid, and the advanced technologies such as protection of high frequency lines and microcomputers, safe automatic equipment, the comprehensive automation of transformer substations and hydroelectric power stations, were out into wide use. This has effectively maintained the steady state of electricity production and the safety of construction.

However, because of its fast economic and social development, Tibet is still seriously short of power. The per capita installed capacity of generators is only half that of the nation and there are still one million people without electricity, while the power supply is far from meeting the demands of industrial development. Hence, from 2006 to 2010, Tibet will concentrate on developing new water while speeding up the construction of the power grid. It will begin the key power supply projects in Bahe Xoika, Bahe Laohuzui, Yajiang Zangmo and Lhasa Zhaxoi, actively promote water and power development in farming and pasturing areas, exploit the potential of solar energy, geothermal and wind power according to local circumstance and try to raise the installed capacity of generators and construction scale to 1.2 million kW. At the same time, Tibet will unite the Nyingchi power grid and that of central Tibet, carry out the construction and transformation of the agricultural power grid, improve the urban power grid, promote power supply capability and solve the electricity problems of 165,000 herdsmen.

Mining

Tibet Autonomous Region is the main part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is rich in mineral ores.

From 2001 to 2005, Tibet completed 322 geological surveys, discovering more than 500 mineral sites and it was preliminarily estimated that the amount of copper was about 11.3 million tons, that of the lead and zinc 9.28 million tons and that of iron 470 million tons. Especially, it was established that the large-scale metallogenic belt of Yarlung Zangbo River and Gangdese (the section in Shannan) and the series of copper mines of Qulung, Chonggyang, Zhuru and Xungcun can become the new super-scale replacement base for copper mining in the country with a potential value of the added mineral resources being more than 180 billion Yuan. In 2005, three mineral sites were explored, raising the amount of proven reserves in two of them. The drilling reached a depth of 10,700 meters.

In the future, Tibet will strengthen its minerals exploration, and place great emphasis on exploiting superior mineral resources with good market demand, and speed up the construction of the mining area at the Yulong copper mines and Zhaboya Salt Lake. It will also constantly improve the depth and precision of mineral production processing to construct an economic belt or zones of mineral development with different characteristics and organize mineral enterprises group.

Building Industry

Since entering into the 21st Century, the building industry of Tibet has gained rapid development with a rise in the stability of project quality and with the industrial structure becoming more rational day by day. Meanwhile, the quality of the enterprises and employees engaging in the industry is constantly being improved and the sector is going from strength to strength. By the end of 2005, there were 430 enterprises engaging in building work and 54 supervisory companies in the whole region of Tibet. The number of employees reached 100,000, and the added value increased to 5.2 billion Yuan in 2005 from 1.78 billion Yuan in 2001, which played an important role in the high growth of the regional economy.

During this period, Tibet speeded up the construction of the urban infrastructure and public services. At present, the municipal infrastructure of the cities and towns of Tibet has been basically improved with the completion of main trunk roads and construction of some sub-trunk roads, basically forming an urban road network. The water supply and drainage system is also in the course of improvement, the drainage problem is primarily solved and urban garbage burial sites are under construction or being studied. Tibet is initiatively exploring ways to set up a multiple-channel investing and financing mechanism of municipal public undertakings construction. In 2005, it gained urban construction funds of 9.824 million Yuan by way of auctioning the licensed management rights of four kinds of open-air advertisement positions on Jinzhu West Road. Urban construction in Tibet attaches great importance to ethnic flavor. Some prefectures such as Lhasa, Shannan and Xigaze and important cities and towns surrounding Konggar have added more ethnic and regional features through ethnic reconstruction of old buildings. Among them, remarkable effects have been achieved in renovation around Barkor Street in Lhasa City, Potala Palace Square and the plaza of Tashilhunpo Monastery and reconstruction of old city zones, and the rebuilding project of Changqin Street in Qamdo Town and the Xigaze Pedestrian Mall gained a "National Award For Human Residence Model".

In addition, in order to renovate and regulate the public bidding market, different regions have set up a Bidding Administrative Office with administrative supervisory function and a Trading Center of Construction Projects. The supervision of every building and municipal engineering project has been further enhanced and the quality greatly promoted.

Fixed assets investment

In 2005, the amount of fixed assets investment reached 19.619 billion Yuan, an increase of 16.5 percent over 2004. This included 3.285 billion Yuan raised publicly, an increase of 54.0 percent.

So far as the economic modes are concerned, the State sector invested 14.994 billion Yuan, an increase of 9.4 percent; the collectively-owned sector invested 674 million Yuan, an increase of 4.6 times; other economic sectors provided 2.509 billion Yuan, a rise of 12.0 percent; individuals invested 1.442 billion Yuan, a rise of 86.1 percent.

Urban investment was 19.015 billion Yuan, up 15.4 percent, including 602 million Yuan of real estate development investment, down 11.6 percent; the building investment of urban and mining areas reached 672 million Yuan, an increase of 75.5 percent; rural investment was 603 million Yuan, a rise of 65.2 percent. Of the rural investment, that of farming households reached 569 million Yuan, up 69.6 percent and that of the collective sector was 34 million Yuan, an increase of 28.5 percent. Tibet received 20.415 billion Yuan in total funding, an increase of 13.3 percent over the previous year. This included 11.464 billion Yuan of State-budgeted funds, an increase of 12.7 percent; 623 million Yuan in domestic loans, a fall of 3.3 percent; 3.874 billion Yuan of self-raised funds, a fall of 7.3 percent; 4.377 billion Yuan of other kinds of investment, an increase of 79.4 percent.

In the past five years, the total amount of fixed assets investment reached 19.619 billion Yuan, use of which enabled a batch of infrastructure and basic industrial projects playing an important support role in economic growth to be built. This included the completion ahead of schedule of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway lines, the start of construction of Nyingchi Airport, an increase of 500,000 kW in total installed electricity generation and 43,700 km of roads including 3,288 km with an asphalt surface. Fixed assets investment also attached importance to farming and pasturing area, carrying out such construction items such as opening new rural roads, electrification, water supply, irrigation works of farmland and pasture and nomadic people’s settlement. Thus, more than 40,000 nomadic people in 8,185 households were enabled to settle down and the drinking water supply difficulties of 588,000 farmers and herdsmen’s were solved, further improving production and living condition in the farming and herding areas.

Domestic trade

In 2005, retail sales of consumer goods reached 7.311 billion Yuan, an increase of 15.7 percent over the previous year. This broke down into 3.301 billion Yuan of sales in urban areas, an increase of 17.8 percent and 4.009 billion Yuan of sales in counties and places below the county level, an increase of 14.0 percent.

Of the total, 5.92 billion Yuan came from wholesale and retail trade, an increase of 15.9 percent; 1.238 billion Yuan came from restaurants and catering businesses, an increase of 12.5 percent; and 153 million Yuan was from other businesses, an increase of 40.4 percent.

Retail sales of food, beverages, tobacco and wine rose by 15.7 percent; that of garments, hats, shoes and knitwear rose 1.8 times; that of oil and oil products rose by 33.5 percent; that of the automobiles by 33.3 percent; and that of the bullion and jewelry by 31.1 percent.

The total consumption price level of residents rose by 1.5 percent over 2004. That in urban areas rose by 1.5 percent; that of the rural area up 0.9 percent; that of services was up 2.0 percent; and that of consumer goods rose by 1.4 percent. Among the different kinds of consumer goods, household needs and tobacco and wine rose 6.7 percent and 2.2 percent respectively, other saw only small increases or remained static. The retail price of the consumer goods rose by 0.8 percent and the price of agricultural means of production was up 0.6 percent.

With the foundation of the socialist market economy system, the scale of the circulatory industry in Tibet was constantly extended, beginning to show effect on the aspects of connecting supply and demand, promoting production, directing consumption and creating jobs. The various kinds of markets could meet the producing and living demands of urban and rural residents, especially the comprehensive markets uniting trading, collection and distribution, information and service functions, which gradually became the important channel of promoting supply and demand and connecting urban and rural areas. According to incomplete statistics, there are 129 different kinds of markets in Tibet with an annual trade volume totaling 2.4 billion Yuan; 98 consumer markets with an annual trade volume reaching 1.9 billion Yuan; 31 markets of means of production with an annual trade volume up to 500 million Yuan. Of different kinds of markets, those with an annual volume of trade above 100 million Yuan numbered six, with eight achieving an annual trade volume above 50 million. On the aspect of market supervision, the supply of daily necessities was abundant, which basically realized the conversion from a selling market to a buying market.

Foreign trade

In 2005, the total import and export value hit US$205.39 million, a fall of 8.1 percent over the previous year. This included US$165.32 million of exports, an increase of 27.1 percent; and US$40.07million of imports, a fall of 57.1 percent. This year, Tibet exported US$156.21 million worth of products to the rest of Asia, an increase of 31.5 percent over 2004; US$4.15 million worth of products went to the Europe, a fall of 3.0 percent; US$240,000 worth of products were shipped to North America, a fall of 33.8 percent; and US$1.37 million worth of products went to Oceania, a gain of 21.2 percent. With the fast development of the import and export value, the foreign trade of Tibet preliminarily realized a transformation in structural adjustment and operational style. The self-supporting aspect was greatly enhanced with the export proportion of self-made products increasing and the foreign trade was gradually interwoven with the economic and social development of Tibet.

On July 6, 2006, a border trade passage was restored at the Nedui La Mountain Mouth in accordance with the agreement reached by the Chinese and Indian governments. This shall cut the distance from Yadong to Calcutta and other Indian ports by about 1,200 km, a boon for the Sino-Indian trade and also for the formation of the land road from China’s Tibet to South Asia.

In 2005, Tibet strengthened the construction of the border trade market and relevant land ports. Trade across borders active increased especially due to the effective operation of multiple market strategies; the number of import and export markets increased to more than 70 from slightly more than 10 in 2001. According to statistics, in 2005, border trade reached US$122.2 million, or 59.5 percent of the total trade value, an increase of 34.8 percent over the previous year. This included US$115.81 million of exports, an increase of 35.3 percent, and US$6.39 million of imports, up 20.6 percent.

In addition, from 2001 to 2005, Tibet used US$93.02 million worth of total foreign capital by agreement and actually utilized US$31.93 million worth of overseas investment, receiving 37 items of multilateral or bilateral free aid and US$42.61 million worth of aid funds. The scale of using foreign capital was enlarged with the quality and level boosted, and the direction of the overseas investment was more rational, the invested fields constantly extended and the benefits becoming more obvious, which powerfully promoted the development of different kinds of social causes in Tibet.

Government Foreign Service Organs

Lhasa Customs

The Lhasa Customs is a local organ of the General Administration of Customs of the PRC, and has under it the customs set up in Xigaze, Nyalam, Shiquanhe Town and Gyirong. With the approvcal of the General Customs Administration, the Lhasa Customs has set up customs supervision stations in Chengdu of Sichuan Province and Golmud of Qinghai Province to examine goods imported for the autonomous region. The Lhasa Customs follows two kinds of tariff: The Import and Export Tariff of Customs of the PRC, and the Methods of the Tibet Customs of the PRC on the Collection of Import Duties and its rules for implementation. With regard to imports for sale within the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Lhasa Customs collects taxes according to a list of 21 tax items and at a low tariff rate especially for the autonomous region. Goods approved for sale to other parts of China are taxed according the national customs tariff rate.

Import

Export Commodities Inspection Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The bureau has set up branches in Zam, Chengdu of Sichuan Province and Golmud of Qinghai Province to inspect import and export goods.

Food Hygiene Inspection Organ

There are more than 80 food hygiene supervision and inspection organs. Beginning June 1, 1992, food imported through ports of the Tibet Autonomous Region have to be inspected by the Lhasa Imported Food Hygiene Inspection Office of the PRC. Only food with an approval certificate issued by the Lhasa office can be sold in the autonomous region.

Lhasa Animals and Plans Quarantine Office

Under the office are four branches in Zam, Burang, Gyirong and Ritog. It also has checkpoints at the Lhasa Gonggar Airport and the Lhasa International Postal Exchange Bureau.

Banking and insurance

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council held their fourth national conference on work in Tibet in June 2001. The conference decided to introduce a complete set of financial policies featuring more preferential treatment in Tibet. The Bank of China worked out measures for granting financial support to the region in 2001-2005. Facts prove that these measures are a boon for Tibet to achieve rapid progress.

At present, the Tibet Autonomous Region has initially formed a modern financial system, in which the People’s Bank of China is the leader, the Agricultural Bank of China and the China Construction Bank are the mainstays, and other financial institutions play their own specialized roles. In the whole region, there are about 700 financial institutions at various levels, plus four insurance companies.

At the end of 2005, bank savings in Tibet reached 45.63 billion Yuan, an increase of 21.9 percent over the end of 2004. Of this, urban and rural residents’ bank deposits rose 14.2 percent to 12.388 billion Yuan. The balance of Yuan and dollar deposits in the banks was 17.934 billion Yuan, a rise of 6.4 percent. Cash income of financial institutions was 52.096 billion Yuan, a fall of 1.5 percent; and cash expenditures 55.847 billion Yuan, a fall of 0.7 percent. Cash input reached 3.751 billion Yuan, 384 million Yuan more than 2004. In addition, in the 2001-2005 period, various branches of State-owned commercial banks implemented policies favorable to Tibet valued at 1.276 billion, which reduced the interest burden for borrowers. Facts prove the Central Government’s policy helps boost social and economic development in Tibet.

On July 2, 1987, the Tibet Branch of the People’s Insurance Co. of China (PICC) was inaugurated. As Tibet features high mountains, dangerous roads and backward transport facilities, vehicle coverage and liability insurance take a big chunk in the region’s insurance business. Other insurance services include business property insurance, cargo insurance, breeder’s insurance, mountaineering insurance, and free of particular average (F.P.A.) geared for middle and primary school students.

In 2005, the premiums received by insurance companies in Tibet added up to 157 million Yuan, an increase of 9.4 percent over the previous year. This included 21 million Yuan for property insurance, a fall of 5.5 percent; and 9.08 million Yuan for accident injury insurance, an increase of 36.3 percent. In 2005, the insurance companies paid out 53.59 million Yuan.