Before the 1950s, the regional economic structure of Tibet was basically a natural economy without the industrial structure and economic structure in the modern sense. There were only malformed commerce and scattered industries controlled by the three estate holders (namely, local feudal governments, aristocrats and upper-class lama). It could be safely said that only after the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951 was there any reform on the economic structure of Tibet. After the democratic reform in 1959 and with the construction of the socialist society, there emerged gradually the industrial structure and economic structure in the modern sense. From then on, the modern industries of Tibet (including materialized sectors such as industry, transportation, postal services and telecommunications, building material and non materialized sectors such as scientific and research, education) were gradually established and meanwhile an unprecedented basis for the continuously improving economic structure was formed. Not only have modern industries been expanding but also the traditional sectors (mainly refer to agriculture and animal husbandry) have been injecting continuously with new vitality and heading towards modernization.
Modern Industries Emerged
Before the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, Tibet was under the serfdom of feudary autocracy wedding religion and the politics. Meanwhile, it was locked up geographically. Thus its social productivity cannot be developed for a long time and the agriculture was always its only industry, which could be proven by the statistics made in 1952 that there was only agricultural output value of 0.14 billion yuan with no items of industry. The agricultural output per capita was only124.46 yuan. At that time, the output value of transportation and energy industries of Tibet were almost zero. There are were no roads of even1 km for economic purpose in this region. The only 125 horsepower power plant was devastated by floods shortly after the installation and power generation. The modern industry of Tibet emerged only after the Sichuan-Tibet highway and Qinghai-Tibet highway were open to traffic in 1954 and the modern industrial system with a primary scale was established and developed at the same time with the development of transportation and energy. In 1956, the statistics on the total value of industrial output(1,391 thousand yuan) was created for the first time in Tibetan history and only reflected the achievements of the PLA troops stationed in Tibet and the local service factories. However this constituted the basis for the development of modern industry. By 1958, the total value of industrial output of Tibet had increased rapidly to 45.004 million yuan. The total output value of agriculture and industry of Tibet of that year reached 201.511 million yuan an increase of 29.2 percent compared with 1953. The range of industrial increase was as high as 30 times. In 1965, the Tibet Autonomous Region was formally established. The Gross value of industrial and agricultural output in that year reached 287.692 million yuan, an increase of 53.3 percent compared with 1959. The annual growth rate was 7.5 percent. Up till 1979, the industrial and agricultural output value of Tibet had increased 574.83 million yuan, an increased of percent compared with 1966. Among them, the industrial output value increased by 500 percent with an annual growth rate of 15.2 percent .
As early as the 1920s, the local government of Tibet had built a pashm factory, mint and the Tode Hydraulic Power station in the suburb of Lhasa with the participation of Great Britain. However due to the lack of technology and personnel, the factories and plants were often under the condition of semi-shut-down, Since the peaceful liberation, the Party Central Committee and the Central Government have shown their concern towards Tibet. To make Tibet develop alongside with other parts of the country, they have selected and dispatched a large number of industrial technological personnel to support the construction in Tibet and develop the local industries of Tibet.
After 1955, the auto service plant and Lhasa lumber mill, limestone plant, carpet factory and serum factory were built successively in Lhasa, Qamdo, Golmud, etc. In October 1955, Lhasa Tode Hydraulic Power Station with installed capacity of 660 kilowatts was completed and put into operation and thus Lhasa has been illuminated since then. In June 1956, the first thermal power plant in Xigaze was completed for use. Meanwhile, the logistic department of Tibet military area has established a clothing factory, fur, iron and lumber processing plants. Although the scale of the mines and factories were relatively small but have leading significance in history of modern industry of Tibet. In 1957, borax was developed in the north of Tibet and has ready market and consequently the ministry of chemical industry put a high value upon it. Since the 1960s, the industrial structure of Tibet has become rational after further adjustment. The output value of heavy industry dropped from 96.23 percent in 1958 to 62.22 percent in 1965 while that of light industry rose correspondingly. By 1965, there have been 80 small and medium-sized factories (including 7 collective enterprises) covering electric power, coal, machine maintenance, chemical industry, building material. forestry, industry and light industry, etc. Most of the enterprises have made use of natural resources and turned out products needed in the economic construction and people’s life of Tibet. They have demonstrated fine social and economic results. .
With decades of efforts, Tibet has successively established over 400 industrial enterprises (middle and small-sized) covering dozens of industries such as light industry food, textiles, electric power, mining, the forestry industry mechanics, leather processing, Tibetan medicine, chemical industry and printing etc. The staff of state-owned enterprises have reached over 50 thousand, There have been over 50 kinds of industrial goods with some of them popular domestically and abroad. Nowadays, the four pillar industries in Tibet are mining industry, the processing industry, transporting equipment maintenance industry and electric power industry. The major industrial area is Lhasa and the second is Xigaze, Qamdo, Shannan and Nyingchi while Naggu hu and Ngari are basically undeveloped in terms of industry. There are only four mid-sized enterprises and some small enterprises and no large enterprise in Tibet. Most of the industrial enterprises directly under the government of Tibet are relative big in scale. Although there is a small number of enterprises in Ngari and Naggu, their scales are bigger than those iii other parts of Tibet. The enterprises in Nymgchi are also fairly large in scale. Now the market-oriented modern processing industry is rising in Lhasa, Shannan, Qamdo and Xigaze. At the same time, the unique and old-line Tibetan handicraft industry is being developed. However the increase of light industry has been mainly contributed to by collective and rural individual industry and that of heavy industry by the mining industry. In addition, the government has given favorable policies as well as financial support to Tibet, having expanded, newly built, and reformed the Tibetan handicraft industrial enterprises and conducted staff training.
The modern industry of Tibet was initiated only after the democratic reform. With the development for tens of years, a modern industrial system with Tibetan characteristics has been initially formed with fairly complete sectors such as architecture, electric power, auto service, pharmacy, foodstuff motorcycles, textiles, forestry industry, hide manufacture, mining etc. Many sectors and many kinds of enterprises have been developed greatly. The scale of modern industry are expanding incessantly with some products are well sold outside the region and even in international markets. Up till 1998, the total value of the output of Tibet reached l.443 billion yuan, and it was 31 times that in 1959. In 2001, Tibet realized industrial added value of l.084 billion yuan andtotal industrial output value of l.998 billion yuan. The pillar industries and advantageous industries such as mining, tourism, architecture and building material, and pharmacies have been developed rapidly. A group of competitive and popular brands of products have been cultivated such as motorcycles, Tibetan medicines, beer, highland barley meal, yak jerky, etc. The pillar industries have been strengthened and advantageous industries have been formed. The modern industries with Tibetan characteristics have been established primarily. The government of the region has encouraged and supported the enterprises in terms of favorable policies, funds and technologies to accelerate the pace of specialized development in scale, aimed to be specialized, precise and strong. The name brands at the provincial level assessed are competitive in both domestic and international markets. By the end of 2001, there had been 8 listed companies and 6 listing stock companies in Tibet. Tibetan medicine Nordikang, Jingzhub, YinghePlateauTreasure, mining and Gaotianlu have respectively become the leading enterprises in Tibetan pharmacy, green food industry etc. The present feature of Tibetan industries are: 1) The scale of industrial production is expanding and the output of products is increasing. 2) The industrial structure is becoming more rational. For example, Nyingchi Wool Spinning Factory is the largest of its kind in Tibet. It has more than 100 products such as woolen cloth, sweaters and carpet. The tannery industry is a special light Industry of Tibet. The factories in Naggu, Ngari, Xigaze, Qamdo and Lhasa etc. have produced. Over 50 kinds of leather products, such as heavy leather, light leather, fur, leather clothing, leather shoes. For another example, Lhasa Leather Factory has the capacity to produce 60 thousand pieces of leather, 40 thousand leather shoes and 10 thousand leather articles. Among heavy industries, the mining industry and nonmetallic minerals product industry have become two major industries in Tibet. Accounting respectively for 23.4 percent and 19.6 percent .
The electric power industry and arts and crafts industry have developed rapidly. At the same time the development of basic industries and the special industries of Tibet are being gradually formed. 3) The industrial technologies and the quality of products have been upgraded incessantly. Each year greater efforts have been made to upgrade the technologies of the enterprises and the training of workers. The workers have been improved in terms of modern production technologies and the production capacity and consequently the quality of products have been enhanced greatly. The high quality well-known products won the domestic and international awards have been increasing each year in Tibet. Lhasa Brewery Company turns out 13,440 tons of beer each year. After the reform of the modern enterprise system, the quality of its products has been improved continuously. In 1 994, it won the title “Star Beer of China”.
Prosperous Service Industry
In 1978, the three industries (agriculture, industry and service) accounted respectively in GDP for 50.7 percent, 27.7 percent and 21.7 percent. However in 2001, the proportions are respectively 27 percent, 23 percent and 50 percent. The traditional economic structure has been transformed. The Central Government and the government of Tibet Autonomous Region have supported the development of infrastructure in terms of material and finance such as transportation, energy and telecommunications. The traditional service industry such as commerce, transportation, post and telecommunications have been consolidated and further developed. The newly emerged services such as finance, insurance, real estate, consultancy and social service have been developed rapidly and present a picture of prosperity.
In 1998, the tertiary industry, i.e. service industry, saw fast increase in added value reaching 3.963 billion yuan. In 2001, the added value was 6.891 billion yuan. The civil aviation and transportation have expanded their market shares in fierce competition by strengthening management and improving service. The postal service and telecommunications continue to grow with quality further enhanced and industrial level upgraded incessantly. At present, the output value with its average growth rate higher that others. This is mainly because the rates of development of transportation, commerce, tourism, finance, insurance, postal services and telecommunications are very high under the special conditions of Tibet. The features are: 1) The development of industries has become rational. The original transportation, finance, insurance and commerce have gained rapid development. The catering service, tourism and consultancy service also developed with a quick speed. 2) The services by collective and individuals in particular the catering service and transportation are developing especially rapidly. 3) The equipment employed in the service industry, in particular the postal service and telecommunications, tourism and transportation, have been improved and thus been better than those in the industrial sectors. 4) Outside labor in Tibet has played a vital role in promoting the development of service industry of Tibet.
Post and Telecommunications
The postal service and telecommunications are important infrastructures for the economy and th society of Tibet; they are also one of the primary condition that will accelerate future development. In the 1950s, the Central Government began to pay much attention to the construction of postal service and telecommunications of Tibet Since the democratic reform of Tibet in 1959, especially, since 1978, the autonomous region has entered the brilliant period when its postal service and telecommunications developed rapidly. The facilities of postal service and telecommunications have been increased rapidly and the technical equipment has been improved greatly, and therefore the postal service and telecommunication network are improving and begin to enter a totally new era of satellites, optical cable and process control. In 1998, the number of post and telecommunications offices (branches) in the whole region was 241, increasing by 3.7 times compared with I 959; the total of the postal route was 16,332 km, increasing by 2.3 times compared with 1959. The total length of rural delivery routes is 58,368 km, increasing by 8.6 times compared with 1960. As for the communication, 7 satellite earth stations have been built up to connect 7 cities and prefectures. Lhasa Long-distance Telecommunication Building has been built up. In addition, the optical cables from Lhasa to Xigaze, Sharman, Nyingchi, Qamdo have been laid down respectively. In 1998, the Optical Cable Project of Lanzhou-Xining-Lhasa was opened, basically solving the problem of communication to the whole country and even to all parts of the world. In 1995, 73 Speech-VSAT satellite communication earth stations were built up, offering the service of program-controlled calls to every county, and thus the goal has been realized of telephones available to every county. Telephones in 98 percent of the administrative districts at and above the county level in the whole region have been programme-controlled at present, and have entered the domestic and international long-distance automatic exchange network. By the end of 1998, the total length of optical cables in the whole region has been over 2,088 km, and the capacity of office-used exchangers has been up to 149,300 lines. In addition, post and telecommunications departments have, in light of the needs of economic development of the autonomous region, successively run new communication service, such as postal savings, first-class mail, Express Mail Service, telex, greeting telegram, wireless beep, mobile communication, computer network, etc. In 2000, the total output and the business income of telecommunication service in the whole region reached 17,660,000 yuan and 243,210,000 yuan respectively, 26 times and 102.5 times that of 1978.
Transportation
Since the peaceful liberation of Tibet in 1951, those highways are successively built up: Qinghai-Tibet (from Xi’ning to Lhasa), Sichuan-Tibet (from Chengdu to Lhasa), Xinjiang-Tibet (from Yecheng of Xinjiang to Ali) and Yunnan-Tibet (from Xiaguan of Yunnan to Mangkang) highway. Meanwhile, Qinghai-Tibet highway and Sichuan-Tibet highway have been renovated, and china-Nepal highway (from Lhasa via Zam Friendship Bridge to Katmandu of Nepal) and Heihe-Chamdo highway have been rebuilt. Since the highway to Medog County opened to traffic on a pilot basis in 1993, the highway has been available to every county of Tibet. The civil aviation line was opened up formally in Tibet in 1960, and at present 5 domestic air lines and one overseas line have been opened up. Now there are 15 arterial highways, 315 feeder highways in the whole region with total mileage of 22,400 km open to traffic. Thus the highway network has been formed with Lhasa as the center Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan Tibet, and China-Nepal Highways as the framework. By the year 2000, the total mileage of25,300 km in the whole region was open to traffic; In addition, Lhasa Airport has been expanded and Bamda Airport been reconstructed. The domestic airlines to Chengdu, Xi’an, Chongqing, Beijing, etc. and the oversea line from Lhasa to Nepal have been opened. The transportation network made up of highways, aviation lines, pipelines etc. have formed, and the transportation capacity has been greatly strengthened. In 1998, 1,985,900 tons of volumes of goods have been transported, increasing by 5.4 times compared with I 959; The turnover of transported goods was 833,600,000 ton/ km, increasing by 4.3 times; the volume of passenger transport was 2,700,000 persons, increased by 41.9 times compared with l959; the passenger travel was 553,430,000 passenger-km, increasing by 13.9 times compared with l959. In April of 1977, the l,080 km long Qinghai-Tibet oil pipeline from Golmud to Lhasa, the highest oil pipeline above sea level in the world, has been built up in Tibet. At present, more than 80 percent of the oil in Tibet has been input through this pipeline. The on-90ing strategy of large-scale development of China’s west has listed the construction project of building railway into Tibet into the schedule. At present the project is under construction, and in the near future, Tibet will end its history with no railway. Consequently, this will further change the investment environment of Tibet.
Finance and Insurance
The peaceful liberation of Tibet has opened up a new era for the gradual establishment and consolidation of the socialist economic system in Tibet, and has gained reliable Security from society. The financial system is also being improved, developed and constantly strengthened as an important component of the economy and the society of Tibet. Since Lhasa office of the People’s Bank of China began its business to handle deposits on December 15, 1951, modern finance has been developed in Tibet for the past 50 years. The People’s Bank of China and various kinds of specialized banks have been developed one after another and improved constantly. The stock exchange of Lhasa is the first stock exchange on the roof of the world in history. It was established on January l0th, 1994, which indicated that the stock market formally entered the plateau of Tibet. In January 1995, the first stock of Tibet-Tibetan Pearl-was issued. Then, 8 companies, such as the Holy Land of Tibet, Tibet Jinzhu, Lhasa Beer, Tibet Mining, etc. have been listed on the stock exchange successively, which has injected fresh vigor into the stock market of Tibet, and the stock owner’s team becomes increasingly stronger. At present, nearly over 9,000 clients have opened an account here and among them Tibetan accounts are more than 50 percent. On June 25, 1997, Lhasa Beer was listed formally on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
The success of Lhasa Beer, the first industrial stock in the Tibet Autonomous Region, in being listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange, was another outstanding achievement of the reform of the economic system centered on the reform of enterprises in Tibet, and have undoubtedly promoted the pace of economic system reform and financial development in Tibet. The insurance industry started relatively late in Tibet, but since the establishment of the Tibet Branch Company of People’s Insurance Company of China in 1987, the undertaking of the insurance has also been strengthened constantly. By 2002, the insurance agencies have been set up across the autonomous region, which have run domestic business and two big classes of foreign business, and have covered all kinds of risks. The launch and constant development of this business have played a vital role in solving the worries of the enterprises and people of all ethnic groups in Tibet, and have effectively promoted the overall development of every construction in Tibet.
However, due to the weak foundation and the low level in economic development and the service industry of Tibet, and low self-serviceability, about 80 percent of the necessities for life and production has to be brought in from outside. This has made the traditional industries, such as transportation, commerce, etc. become the pillar service Industries in Tibet, which in turn directly influence and restrict the primary and secondary industries. The major problems confronting the service industry are: (1) The total amount is relatively insufficient and the pace of development is comparatively slow. (2) The industrial structure lags behind. Most industries have been restricted by the bad management, low competitiveness and benefit, high consummation and severe losses. Thus the new industry is weak. (3) The inner structure of industries is out-of-balance. (4) The transportation capacity of the highways is not fully utilized and the air traffic is relatively insufficient. (5) The network of post and telecommunications is incomplete with low service function. (6) The service industry for life, such as commerce, finance, insurance, information consultation, etc. has been developed inadequately. To solve these problems, the focal point of the development of service industry of Tibet in the future is: commerce, foreign trade, finance, insurance, real estate, etc.; socialized comprehensive service industry for production and living etc. in the farming and pasturing area; basic trades, such as communications and transportation, post and telecommunications, education, scientific research, etc.; service trade of information and consultation.
Tourist Industry Gathering Momentum
Tibet is the largest area in China where people of the Tibetan ethnic group live, and also is the area rich in tourist resources. The changes in the earth’s crust have formed its natural scene on this towering plateau. The whole of Tibet is encircled by the Himalayas, the Kunlun and Tanggula Mountains, which are the main part of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with an average height of 4000 meters above sea level. It is often called “the roof of the world” and “the third pole of the earth”. Within the border there are the highest peak in the world-Qomolangmo, and the Yarlung Zangbo River that surges forward like a huge dragon. More than l,500 lakes of various sizes dotted elegantly across Tibet. There are vast prairies, misty virgin forests and a complete collection of rare animals and plants in the world at different latitudes, such as Frigid Zone, Temperate Zone, Subtropical Zone and Tropical Zone, etc. Pleasant scenes on the plateau can be seen everywhere in Tibet.
The long history of Tibet has cultivated the numerous scenic spots and historical sites. Lhasa, the provincial capital, is a world famous ancient city on the plateau, and also the sacred place in the minds of Tibetans. The famous Potala Palace in the city, is the famous palace-type architectural complex of castle in China with the quintessence of ancient Tibetan architecture and a great value for tourism; it is said that Yumbolhakang Palace at Nedong County of Shannan was a Royal Palace for Nytri Tsampo, the Tibetan Tsampo (king) of the first generation over 2,000 years ago. There are imperial graveyards of Tsampo (king) of successive Tibetan regimes in Qoingyi County, which arc majestic, solemn and in large-scale; The Daye Township in the east suburb of Qamdo Town of Qamdo Prefeture is where dinosaur fossil, in the Jurassic Period of the Mesozoic Era have been unearthed; Zongshan Hill Fort used by the patriotic army and the people of Tibet to resist the British invaders in modern time is still kept in Gyangze County. In addition, Tibet is also called “Little Western Paradise”, “Holy Land of Buddha. There are more than 2,700 temples of various sizes, which are mostly classics of the Tibetan buildings with large scale. Designed and decorated magnificently, the palaces stand toweringly and the roofs are splendid in dazzlingly green and gold. Also there are numerous statues of Buddha in the temple. The walls are painted with murals, and the corridors and carved beams arc luxurious and unusual. Really, it is the splendid destination for the visitors. In 2002, Potala Palace, Jokhang Monastery, Norbu Lingka, Tibet Museum, Basum Co Lake of Nyingchi were evaluated as the travel scenic spots of 4-A grade in the country. Tibet attracts the visitors from all parts of the world with its unique romantic charms. Marked by the establishment of the Tourism Administration Bureau of Tibet Autonomous Region in 1979, tourist industry has been developed in Tibet for over 20 years. So far, the tourist reception network in the region has already been set up with Lhasa as the center and supported by various prefectures and cities. The reception facilities have been gradually becoming practical and upgraded with stars. The tourist service system has begun to take shape, and the service quality improves constantly. Meanwhile, the sightseeing resorts increase progressively. At present, in Tibet, 5 cities and counties, 43 mountain peaks, 4 national-level scenic spots, 2 national-level historical cultural cities, 13 national-level major historical and cultural sites under state protection, 11units of historical relics under the protection of the autonomous region, 40 places for sightseeing have been open to the outside. The unique natural scenes and peculiar Tibetan local conditions and customs on the plateau have enormous appeal to the overseas sightseers. Moreover, tourist industry with its good economic benefits has played an important role in the construction of national economy and opening up,
The Tourism Department of Tibet Autonomous Region has insisted that the promotion of tourist resources of Tibet to the domestic and international markets should be carried out at the same time with the development and construction of the traveling products in the region, and meanwhile make the structure of the travelers more rational, and synchronize the development of both international and domestic markets. In 1998, 380,000 tourists have been received from home and abroad. Among them overseas visitors were up to 90,000 persons with foreign exchange earned reaching 33,500,000 US dollars. While overseas visitors increase, domestic visitors also increase sharply t0 290,000 persons, the highest record.
In 1999, Tibet tourist industry received 448,000 visitors in total from home and abroad, earned foreign exchange of US$36,300,000, increased respectively by 16 percent and 9.9 percent compared with 1998. Among them, 96,400 persons were overseas visitors. It was 105.7 percent of the annual plan to receive overseas visitors with foreign exchange earned reaching US$33,020,000, thus hit the target in excess. By the year 2001,590,000 visitors from home and abroad were received. The tourist industry gained 650 million yuan directly and 3,260 million yuan indirectly accounting respectively for 6 percent and 27.8 percent of the GDP of the whole region that year. The tourist industry has taken a very large proportion in the economy of Tibet and probably accounted for l/4 0f the economic force in driving other relevant industries in Tibet.
Since 1998, the Tourism Administration Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region has further adjusted the publicity and promotion strategy of expanding the tourist market, and successively organized the leading tourist enterprises to attend international internal travel fairs in Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Guangzhou, etc. for several times, and reached several dozen agreements of intent. The Tibet Tourism Department has also set up the Tibet travel liaison offices in Tokyo and Los Angeles, separately, and fully utilized modern scientific and technological means to promote the tourism of Tibet to the whole world on the Internet. These measures have improved the popularity of the tourism of Tibet and exerted a great influence both at home and abroad. At the same time of publicizing and promotion, the relevant department has also transformed a group of hotels with stars, and renovated and maintained the auxiliary facilities in some scenic spots. By the end of2001, there were over 140 tourists enterprises in Tibet with fixed assets reaching more than 800 million yuan. The Government of Tibet Autonomous Region has tentatively invested nearly l,600 million yuan in building the national-level travel park at the Grand Canyon of the Yarlung Zangbo River.