The GDP of Tibet Autonomous Region is expected to reach 29.03 billion yuan in 2006, an annual increase of 13.2 percent and the largest in 10 years.

According to Zhang Qingli, party secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region, investment in fixed assets will reach 23.11 billion yuan, up 17.8 percent from last year; the general budgetary revenue for the whole region will reach 1.45 billion yuan, up 20.5 percent; and per capita GDP has exceeded 10,000 yuan, a signal that the Tibetan economy has made rapid strides forward.

Tibet's tourism industry is developing well. Some 2.45 million tourists visited Tibet in 2006, a 36.1 percent year-on-year increase. Revenue from this sector was approximately 2.7 billion yuan, an increase of 39.5 percent from last year. To accommodate this growth explosion, authorities have decided to expand the local tourism industry and are preparing to receive 4 million tourists in 2007.

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