Historically, Tibet in southwest China was an important gateway and hub of trade and cultural exchanges between China and South Asian countries. However, the cross-border trade gradually dwindled to Tibetan livestock products, agricultural products such as rice, tea and byproducts, and other commodities like silk, ceramics, spices and handicraft items.

To give greater momentum to the economy of Tibet Autonomous Region, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued a white paper in 2015, Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, detailing how to integrate the southwestern region of China with the Belt and Road Initiative and make full of the former's geographic and resource advantages.

The white paper suggested that trade, tourism and cultural exchanges between the autonomous region and the countries bordering it, like Nepal, should be promoted.

The same year, the Central Government held a symposium on Tibet affairs, which stressed that agriculture and animal husbandry with Tibetan characteristics should be developed as well as a processing industry to invigorate trade and commerce and make Tibet an important channel for China's opening up to South Asia.

Sustainable growth

In recent years, the Central Government has made more efforts to improve the livelihoods of the people. Over 70 percent of the annual fiscal revenue is earmarked for projects to improve people's lives, covering medical care, education and employment. At the same time, the construction of infrastructure and public service facilities in the border areas has been stepped up.

In 2017, 6 billion yuan ($894 million) was allocated for projects to enrich the border areas and the lives of residents. In 2018, construction projects to build over 2,000 km of roads were implemented as a step to build a moderately prosperous society.

The annual allowance for border residents has been raised to 3,700 yuan ($551) or 3,500 yuan ($521) per person, according to the categories of villages and towns they live in. In addition, the border towns are being fully covered by telecommunication signals and major transport links.

With the support of the Central Government and the assistance from the rest of the country, the economy of Tibet has seen robust progress. Regional GDP has maintained 10-percent growth, reaching 140 billion yuan ($20.86 billion) in 2018. The social fixed assets investment has kept up a 20-percent growth rate. The urban per-capita disposable income of the autonomous region is 30,000 yuan ($4,470), enjoying 10-percent growth for years, while that of rural residents is more than 10,000 yuan ($1,490), registering 13-percent growth.

With the implementation of various policies to support agriculture and farmers, the industrialization rate of agriculture and animal husbandry is 42 percent, which has increased production. In 2018, Tibet's grain output exceeded 1 million tons, with barley harvests accounting for 814,000 tons.

Tourism industry revenue reached 49 billion yuan ($7.3 billion), up 29.2 percent in 2018 alone. A three-dimensional transportation network, consisting mainly of highways and supplemented by railways and aviation, has been established. Water resource development and utilization has been promoted. In 2018, Tibet produced 870 million kwh of electricity and signed contracts with 14 provinces and cities to transmit power.

Border trade has shown stable development with a trade volume of 4.8 billion yuan ($715 million) in 2018.

Greater interconnection

Tibet has widened its opening up under the Belt and Road framework. To connect with South Asia, land ports such as the Gyirong, Yadong and Burang ports have been opened and comprehensive bonded zones are being built in Lhasa, capital city of the autonomous region, and Xigaze, another major city. The nearly 2,000-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway running from Xining, capital city of northwest China's Qinghai Province, to Lhasa was expanded to Xigaze in 2014 as preliminary preparation for building a cross-country railway, the China-Nepal Railway. The completed railway will connect Lhasa to Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, passing through Gyirong and Xigaze in Tibet. Construction of the Xigaze-Gyirong section of the railway is underway.

Another railway section is also under construction. The Xigaze-Yadong line will run from Xigaze to Yadong, a county in Tibet near the Indian border state of Sikkim.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway, to be completed in 2025, and the Yunnan-Tibet Railway will further strengthen China's overland border route to South Asia.

In 2016, cross-border freight service improved considerably with the Guangzhou-South Asia freight train carrying goods from Guangzhou, capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, to transit station in Tibet. From there the consignments were carried by road to Kathmandu.

Aviation links between the autonomous region and Nepal were strengthened in 2014 with the launch of the China-Nepal joint venture Himalaya Airlines, where Tibet Airlines is the Chinese investor.

People-to-people exchanges

The autonomous region has also opened its door to various exchanges with neighboring countries with the advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative and the prosperity of China's economy. The exchanges vary from tourism, education and sports to film and television. They enrich Tibetan culture, boost its economic development and resonate with Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposal to build a community with a shared future for humanity.

In 2018, the Fourth China Tibet Tourism and Culture Expo (Tibet Expo) as well as the China-South Asia Standardization Forum were held. The Tibet Expo had various forums for extensive external exchanges and cooperation, such as the Trans-Himalaya Belt and Road International Cooperation Forum and the Third Pole of the World Tourism and Culture Summit, which was attended by a delegation from Nepal led by Krishna Bahadur Mahara, speaker of the lower house of parliament.

Ambassadors of Nepal and Sri Lanka to China also attended the event.

High-level visits to and from Tibet have become frequent. In 2015, Nepal's President Ram Baran Yadav visited the autonomous region. A Sri Lankan delegation came to visit the autonomous region in 2018.

The political exchanges have facilitated cultural interactions. In 2017, a culture exchange group of China consisting of Tibetologists, Living Buddhas and members of the cultural department of Tibet Autonomous Region paid a three-day visit to Sri Lanka. During the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) of China, Tibet is utilizing its advantages and opportunities to open further. Combining the dual tasks of ensuring development and maintaining stability, its participation in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative includes connecting with the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, the regional initiative for greater trade and investment integration, since it shares part of its border with India and Myanmar. The autonomous region also plans to construct a Trans Himalaya Economic Belt that will connect India, Nepal and parts of China.

At the same time, Tibet is sprucing up its industries and their capacity and shoring up residents' skills for better utilization of resources, industries and capital so that the goal of industrial transformation and upgrading is fulfilled.

The author is deputy director of the Nanya Institute, Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences

Copyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar

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