Economy of Tibet

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The economy of Tibet is dominated by subsistence agriculture. Due to limited arable land, livestock raising is the primary occupation mainly on the Tibetan Plateau, among them are sheep, cattle, goats, camels, yaks, donkeys and horses. The main crops grown are barley, wheat, buckwheat, rye, potatoes, oats, rapeseeds, cotton and assorted fruits and vegetables. In recent years the economy has begun evolving into a multiple structure with agriculture and tertiary industry developing side by side.

Contents

Context

Tibetologist Andrew Martin Fischer  [ fr ] states that, according to a Chinese census of 2000, Tibetans remain predominantly rural, with an overall rural Tibetan resident rate of 87.2%, including 91.4% in Qinghai, 90.9% in Gansu, 89.5% in Sichuan, 84.8% in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and 80% in Yunnan. [1] Due to the scarcity of arable land, livestock herding is the primary occupation on the Tibetan Plateau.

According to the Illustrated White Paper published by the central government in 2009 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Democratic Reform in Tibet, a modern industry with Tibetan characteristics has developed, with mining, construction materials, handicrafts, and Tibetan medicine as its pillars, and electricity production, processing of agricultural and livestock products, and food production as auxiliary sectors. Modern commerce, tourism, catering, leisure, and other industries, unknown under the old regime, were booming and constituted the primary industries of the region. From 2001 to 2009, Beijing invested 45.4 billion dollars in the economic development of the Tibet Autonomous Region. This has had beneficial effects on economic growth, living standards, and infrastructure. [2]

Andrew Martin Fischer states that the discourse on growth does not mention the "context of continued political disempowerment of Tibetans," where massive subsidy strategies directly serve the government or Chinese companies based outside Tibetan sectors. This situation enables the appropriation of the local economy by non-Tibetan populations, despite the significance of the subsidies. Fischer notes that the majority of construction projects are awarded to companies outside Tibet, which primarily employ Han Chinese workers. These companies reinvest their profits in their home provinces rather than in Tibet's economy. [1] Sinologist Jean-Luc Domenach considers that "while Tibetans have partially regained control over their religious practices and customs, they have hardly strengthened their economic and social influence. Meanwhile, with economic development, Chinese settlers have arrived in increasing numbers, while the idea that Tibet is merely a charming tourist curiosity has spread in Chinese cities". [3]

Geography

The autonomous Tibetan administrative subdivision of the People's Republic of China. TAR-TAP-TAC.png
The autonomous Tibetan administrative subdivision of the People's Republic of China.

Tibet is a historic country in Asia, consisting of three Tibetan provinces: Kham, Ü-Tsang, and Amdo. Today, it mainly comprises the autonomous Tibetan administrative subdivisions of the People's Republic of China  [ fr ], including the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Tibet consists mainly of a high plateau, the Tibetan Plateau, surrounded on three sides by the world's highest mountain ranges: the Himalayas to the south, the Karakoram to the west, and the Kunlun Mountains to the north. Often referred to as “the Roof of the World,” Tibet has an average altitude of 5,000 meters, and its highest peak, Mount Everest, rises to 8,849 meters. [4]

The Tibet Autonomous Region covers 1,200,000 km². The northern plateau (Changtang) comprises high-altitude regions, the central plateau around Lhasa comprises major agricultural regions, and the southeastern plateau (land of gorges) has significant forest resources, being China's second largest forest biomass zone. The majority of Tibetans live in agricultural areas, which account for 2% of the region's total area. [1] There are approximately 500,000 nomadic herders in Tibet. The Tibet Autonomous Region is rich in minerals, some of which are rare in other parts of China. Its chromium and copper deposits are the largest in the country. Tibet has the world's largest borax and uranium deposits and half of the world's lithium reserves. In order to increase mining activities in the northeast and west of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the latter has been classified as a special economic zone. The Tibet Autonomous Region has the largest hydroelectric potential in Asia. Tibet has a rich cultural and ecological heritage, and national parks have been created, including the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary in 1992. [5]

History

17th and 18th centuries

Currency and commerce

Like the Nepalese and the Chinese, Tibetans did not use gold for their currency, unlike Europeans. In 1650, the 5th Dalai Lama signed a treaty with the king of Patan, Siddhi Narasimha Malla, allowing Nepal to mint currency using silver ingots supplied by the Tibetans. The Malla kings received a 12% commission. This currency was used in Tibet until 1792, when the Tibetan government began minting its own currency. [6]

Trade was one of the main activities alongside agriculture and animal husbandry. At the time, Tibet was largely open to the outside world exporting numerous products, except during periods of turmoil. Possessing salt lakes, Tibet used to export salt to India and it sold animals, horses, gold, wool, carpets, incense, musk, salt and animal hides to China. To India and Nepal, it exported iron from the Kutti region, paper from Dakpo  [ fr ], and quartz from Yarlung. [7]

The country imported large quantities of tea, musical instruments, porcelain, and grains from China. Although itself a producer of silk, Tibet also imported silk for the manufacture of clothing and khatas. [7]

Agriculture and livestock farming

Fields were located in the valleys and on the lower slopes of the mountains. Barley, cultivated up to 4,500 meters, was the primary crop. Wheat, buckwheat, maize, turnips, radishes, beans, and also rice were grown in the valleys. Due to the climate, only one harvest per year was possible. Farmers often owned a few animals, such as the dzo. Missionaries reported that vineyards of white grapes, located in Kham, south of Lhasa, and in Batang, enabled them to produce wine for masses. [8]

Nomadic herders raised horses, goats, yaks, sheep and dzo. They used one campsite in summer and another at higher altitude in winter. Sheep provided meat highly valued by Tibetans. Pig farming was associated with poultry farming. Animal slaughter took place in autumn when the animals were fattest. When possible, herders had animals slaughtered by someone else to avoid the demerit of killing a living being. Amdo and Kongpo were renowned for horse breeding. [9]

Despite Buddhist precepts, Tibetans hunted for economic reasons. They hunted for the meat of wild yaks and for the fur of snow leopards, wolves, foxes, otters, and other animals. When necessary, they killed predators of their herds, which also allowed them to sell the fur, hides, or musk of these animals. In Amdo, ritual hunts targeting deer and wild sheep were organized. These hunts had no significant impact on wildlife conservation due to the vastness of the Tibetan territory, the very low population density, and the rudimentary weapons used (bows, spears, knives, etc.). [10]

Mining operations

Old Chain-Bridge at Chaksam, built in 1430 by Thang Tong Gyalpo Old Chain-Bridge at Chaksam.jpg
Old Chain-Bridge at Chaksam, built in 1430 by Thang Tong Gyalpo

Tibetans developed mines despite religious precepts that hindered such exploitation. Thus, in the 15th century, Thang Tong Gyalpo obtained iron from the mines of Kongpo, enabling the construction of suspension bridges with steel chains (Tibetans built chain bridges as early as the sixth century). Similarly, in 1445, Chökyi Drönma, princess of Gungthang, traveled to this region to acquire a large quantity of iron. Mines of copper, borax, sulfuric acid, rock salt, iron, and gold were reported by the missionary Francesco della Penna. These mines were located in central Tibet, Dakpo, Kham, and Kongpo. The explorer Samuel Turner mentioned mines of gold, lead, and cinnabar. Tibet was then renowned for its wealth in gold, which came from placer mining and mines. Tibetan authorities permitted the export of gold.

Growth

Development of GDP
YearGDP in Bill.Yuan
19955.61
200011.78
200524.88
201050.75
2015102.64
2020190.27
Source: [11]

From the 1951 Seventeen Point Agreement to 2003, life expectancy in Tibet increased from thirty-six years to sixty-seven years with infant mortality and absolute poverty declining steadily. [12] Professor Lin Chun summarizes, "Roads, factories, schools, hospitals, and above all, modern conceptions of equality and citizenship, however undemocratic they might be, had transformed the land of snows where the cruelty and hardship of an ancient serfdom had been evident." [13]

Tibet's GDP in 2008 was 39.6 billion renminbi yuan. [14] The Chinese government says that it exempts Tibet from all taxation and provides 90% of Tibet's government expenditure. Critics say that the central government in Beijing are stripping Tibetan resources and neglecting the welfare of Tibetan people. [15]

A Tibetan farmer ploughing a field; yaks still provide the best way to plow fields in Tibet Yaks still provide the best way to plow fields in Tibet.jpg
A Tibetan farmer ploughing a field; yaks still provide the best way to plow fields in Tibet

According to the Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Qiangba Puncog, Tibet's economy has grown on average 12% per year from 2000 to 2006. The per capita GDP reached 10,000 RMB in 2006 for the first time in Tibet's history. [16]

In the first six months of 2008, economic growth in Tibet was halved after the Lhasa riots led to a slump in tourism, consumption and output. The region’s economy expanded 7.4 percent in the period from 2007, down from 14.7 percent in the year-earlier period. [17]

Chinese development efforts

In general, China's minority regions have some of the highest per capita government spending public goods and services. [18] : 366  Providing public goods and services in these areas is part of a government effort to reduce regional inequalities, reduce the risk of separatism, and stimulate economic development. [18] : 366  Tibet has the highest amount of funding from the central government to the local government as of at least 2019. [18] : 370–371  Also as of at least 2019, Tibet has the highest total per capita government expenditure of any region in China, including the highest per capita government expenditure on health care, the highest per capita government expenditure on education, and the second highest per capita government expenditure on social security and employment. [18] : 367–369 

The Chinese government allocates yearly economic and financial aid packages to the Tibet Autonomous Region, an amount that academic Lin Chun of the London School of Economics and Political Science characterizes as "enormous." [13] China's most recent Five Year Plan includes nearly USD $30 billion in Tibetan transportation infrastructure funding. [19]

From January 18–20, 2010 a national conference on Tibet and areas inhabited by Tibetans in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai was held in China and a substantial plan to improve development of the areas was announced. The conference was attended by CPC Politburo Standing Committee members: Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang signaling the commitment of senior Chinese leaders to development of Tibet and ethnic Tibetan areas. The plan calls for improvement of rural Tibetan income to national standards by 2020 and free education for all rural Tibetan children. The Chinese government has invested 310 billion yuan (about 45.6 billion U.S. dollars) in Tibet since 2001. "Tibet's GDP was expected to reach 43.7 billion yuan in 2009, up 170 percent from that in 2000 and posting an annual growth of 12.3 percent over the past nine years." [20] Outside observers credited increased interest in Tibet to concern over Tibetan nationalism which resulted in ethnic unrest in 2008. [21]

Because the central government permits Tibet to have a preferentially low corporate income tax rate, many corporations have registered in Tibet. [18] : 146 

Industry

Many factories have been established in the Tibet Autonomous Region since 1959, but industrial development has had a long and prosperous history. The government initially tried to follow the industrial structure and development plans of other regions, while ignoring the actual situation in the TAR (scarcity of fuel, high transport costs, inexperienced local labour, etc.). There was no modern industry or infrastructure before the 1950s and people's life-styles and work habits were very different from those of industrial societies. Many plants rapidly became financially unprofitable and a drain on the government. The value of industrial output of state enterprises first rose to 141.7 million yuan in 1960, and fell to 11.2 million yuan in 1968. [22]

With some adjustments, the value of industrial output rose again in the late 1980s. Moreover, as in the rest of China, the ownership structure of industrial enterprises in the TAR also experienced a major change. In 2007, for a “gross industrial output value” totaling 5,044 million yuan, 33,1% came from state enterprises, 5.6% from collectively-owned enterprises and 61.3% from "others" (private companies, joint ventures and foreign companies). Thus, private enterprise is now the main source of growth in industrial production. [23]

According to the White Paper published by the central government in 2009 to mark the Fiftieth Anniversary of the "Democratic Reform in Tibet," a modern Tibetan industry has developed with mining, construction materials, handicrafts and Tibetan medicine as pillar industries, and power generation, processing of agricultural products and livestock and food production as auxiliary. The industrial added value rose by 15 million yuan in 1959 to 2,968,000,000 yuan in 2008. Modern commerce, tourism, catering, leisure and other industries that had never been heard of in old Tibet, are now booming as the primary industries in the region. Petroleum, natural gas, and rubber also play a large role in Tibet's annual exports. [24]

Traditional handicrafts

The rapid economic development of the T.A.R. has brought about a revival of traditional handicrafts. Many Tibetans today draw a significant part of their income from selling handicraft and cultural products to tourists, or even to other Tibetans. [25]

Founded in 1953, [26] the state carpet-making factory in Lhasa has turned into a modern enterprise whose products are sold in Europe, North America and South Asia. [27]

Tourism

In recent years Tibet's tourism has expanded rapidly, especially after the completion of Qingzang Railway in July 2006. Tibet received 2.5 million tourists in 2006, including 150,000 foreigners. [16]

In 2007, the figure climbed to some 4 million visitors but fell to only 2,246,400 in 2008 [28] on account of the region being closed to tourism from March till June.

Between January and July 2009, more than 2.7 million tourists visited the TAR, three times as many as for the same period in 2008, [29] generating an income of 2.29 billion yuans. [30]

In 2010, the region received 6.85 million tourists from home and abroad, generating revenues of 7.14 billion yuan, 14 percent of its total GDP. [31]

Between January 1 and November 30, 2012, the T.A.R. received a record 10 million domestic and foreign tourists, as against more than 8.69 million visitors in 2011. Nearly 300,000 people are employed in the region's tourism sector, according to government figures. [32]

Agriculture

Agricultural pests

Plutella xylostella is a pest almost everywhere cruciferous vegetables are grown, including the Plateau. [33] The various weedy forms of Cannabis which have now spread worldwide originated on the northeast edge of the Plateau, in Tibet and Qinghai. [34] Tibetan populations of Locusta migratoria show adaptations which allow them to respond better to hypoxia. [35] Overall Tibet has been invaded by fewer agricultural insect threats, mostly because of its lack of sea access. Coastal economic expansion has allowed for invasions to occur, but as Tibet also begins to grow economically, it too may suffer the same fate. [36]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fischer, Andrew Martin; Courret, Laure (2009). "L'économie politique de l'« aide boomerang » dans la Région autonome du Tibet" [The Political Economy of “Boomerang Aid” in the Tibet Autonomous Region]. Perspectives Chinoises. 108 (3): 41–59. doi:10.3406/perch.2009.3765.
  2. ↑ "Illustrated White Paper on Democratic Reform in Tibet-Tibet's GDP has an average annual growth of 8.9 percent". www.chinahumanrights.org. Archived from the original on 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  3. ↑ Domenach, Jean-Luc (2011), Sabouret, Jean-François (ed.), "Sur la crise tibétaine" [On the Tibetan crisis], L'Asie-monde : Chroniques sur l'Asie et le Pacifique 2002-2011, CNRS Alpha (in French), Paris: CNRS Éditions, pp. 285–288, ISBN   978-2-271-12220-9 , retrieved 2025-09-18
  4. ↑ "Tibet | History, Map, Capital, Population, Language, & Facts". www.britannica.com. 2025-09-11. Retrieved 2025-09-18.
  5. ↑ Iversen, Vegard (2002). Blondeau, Anne-Marie; Buffetrille, Katia (eds.). Le Tibet est-il chinois ?[Is Tibet Chinese?] (in French). Albin Michel. pp. 300–333. ISBN   2226134263.
  6. ↑ Buffetrille (2019 , p. 143)
  7. 1 2 Buffetrille (2019 , pp. 134–139)
  8. ↑ Buffetrille (2019 , pp. 129–131)
  9. ↑ Buffetrille (2019 , pp. 131–132)
  10. ↑ Buffetrille (2019 , p. 146)
  11. ↑ Historical GDP of Provinces "Home - Regional - Annual by Province" (Press release). China NBS. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  12. ↑ Lin, Chun (2006). The transformation of Chinese socialism. Durham [N.C.]: Duke University Press. p. 103. ISBN   978-0-8223-3785-0. OCLC   63178961.
  13. 1 2 Lin, Chun (2006). The transformation of Chinese socialism. Durham [N.C.]: Duke University Press. p. 103. ISBN   978-0-8223-3785-0. OCLC   63178961.
  14. ↑ "China's Tibet Fact and Figures 2003". China Tibet Information Service. 2002-08-26. Archived from the original on 2006-06-25. Retrieved 2006-02-24.
  15. ↑ "Tibet's economy depends on Beijing". NPR News. 2002-08-26. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-02-24.
  16. 1 2 "Tibet's economy grows at an average rate of 12 percent last 6 years". CCTV. 2007-06-21. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  17. ↑ Peng, James (January 16, 2009). "China Says 'Sabotage' by Dalai Lama Supporters Set Back Tibet". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 Lin, Shuanglin (2022). China's Public Finance: Reforms, Challenges, and Options. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-1-009-09902-8.
  19. ↑ "China to spend USD 30 billion in Tibet on infrastructure development in next five years". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2022-11-21.
  20. ↑ "China to achieve leapfrog development, lasting stability in Tibet" news.xinhuanet.com/english
  21. ↑ "China to Seek ‘Stability’ in Tibet via Development" article by Edward Wong in The New York Times , January 23, 2010.
  22. ↑ Rong Ma, Population and society in Tibet , Hong Kong University Press, 2010, 350 p., p. 161.
  23. ↑ Rong Ma, Population and society in Tibet, op. cit., p. 161.
  24. ↑ Tibet’s GDP has an average annual growth of 8.9 percent Archived 2014-03-30 at the Wayback Machine , Illustrated White Paper: Fifty Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet, chinahumanrights.org.
  25. ↑ Mark Anthony Jones, "Flowing Waters Never Stale: Journey Through China", Zeus Publications, Burleigh MDC, Queensland, 2008 ISBN   978-1-921406-32-4, p. 143 : "Many Tibetans are clearly keen to benefit from the money that the sharply increasing number of tourists bring, producing and selling all kinds of traditional handicrafts, and (…) some of these cultural products on sale to tourists have also become popular with the Tibetans themselves, which is why cultural production, now linked to tourism, is ‘a very important factor in the revitalisation of Tibetan culture.’ "
  26. ↑ (in French) Style et origine des tapis tibétains.
  27. ↑ Wang Wenchang and Lha Can, L’économie du Tibet, Collection Tibet, Chine Intercontinental Presse, 2004, 121 p., ISBN   7-5085-0567-0, p.7.
  28. ↑ Report: tourism in Tibet plays more important role, Focus on Tibet, April 5, 2009.
  29. ↑ "Insolite : Tibet : le réchauffement climatique favorable au tourisme ? - Developpement Durable". developpementdurable.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-08.
  30. ↑ Tourisme au Tibet : record du nombre de touristes en juillet 2009.
  31. ↑ Direct flight boosts Tibet's tourism Archived 2012-05-31 at the Wayback Machine , Chinatibetnews.com, 16 December 2011.
  32. ↑ Tibet receives record number of tourists, chinatibetnew.com, 10 December 2012.
  33. ↑ Li, Zhenyu; Feng, Xia; Liu, Shu-Sheng; You, Minsheng; Furlong, Michael J. (2016-03-11). "Biology, Ecology, and Management of the Diamondback Moth in China". Annual Review of Entomology . 61 (1). Annual Reviews: 277–296. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-010715-023622. ISSN   0066-4170. PMID   26667272. S2CID   85772304.
  34. ↑ Kovalchuk, I.; Pellino, M.; Rigault, P.; van Velzen, R.; Ebersbach, J.; Ashnest, J. R.; Mau, M.; Schranz, M. E.; Alcorn, J.; Laprairie, R. B.; McKay, J. K.; Burbridge, C.; Schneider, D.; Vergara, D.; Kane, N. C.; Sharbel, T. F. (2020-04-29). "The Genomics of Cannabis and Its Close Relatives". Annual Review of Plant Biology . 71 (1). Annual Reviews: 713–739. doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-081519-040203. ISSN   1543-5008.
  35. ↑ Harrison, Jon F.; Greenlee, Kendra J.; Verberk, Wilco C.E.P. (2018-01-07). "Functional Hypoxia in Insects: Definition, Assessment, and Consequences for Physiology, Ecology, and Evolution". Annual Review of Entomology . 63 (1). Annual Reviews: 303–325. doi: 10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043145 . hdl: 2066/193219 . ISSN   0066-4170. PMID   28992421.
  36. ↑ Wan, Fang-Hao; Yang, Nian-Wan (2016-03-11). "Invasion and Management of Agricultural Alien Insects in China". Annual Review of Entomology . 61 (1). Annual Reviews: 77–98. doi:10.1146/annurev-ento-010715-023916. ISSN   0066-4170. PMID   26527302.
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