Potala Palace bathed in the morning light in Lhasa, June 1, 2013. [Photo by Li Zhongmin/All rights reserved by chinadaily.com.cn]

According to the region's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), Tibet will also streamline the procedure for Chinese people applying for passes to visit border areas. Tibet shares a border of more than 4,000 kilometers with countries including India, Nepal and Burma. More trade routes will be built between Tibet and its neighbors in the future.

The planned Sichuan-Tibet railway will help bring more tourists and opportunities to Tibet, said Losang Jamcan, chairman of the region, at the session.

It will be the second railway to Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet railline.

China will accelerate the construction of the 1,629-kilometer Sichuan-Tibet railway starting this year, Losang Jamcan said during the annual session of the regional people's congress in January.

Nearly 1,000 km of it will be in Tibet. Construction of the western and the eastern sections began last year. The whole project is expected to be completed in the early 2030s.

Perched at over 3,000 meters above sea level and with more than 74 percent of its length running on bridges or in tunnels, the railway will meander through the mountains, the highest of which is over 7,000 meters above sea level.

Losang Jamcan said, the Sichuan-Tibet railway will also significantly improve people's livelihoods along its route.