Foreword

Economic development in its conventional sense is defined as a unification process of the growth of social wealth, optimization of industrial structure, improvement of people's ability to create wealth, and other factors. Economic development in its modern sense emphasizes human, fair, coordinated and sustainable development as well as GDP growth.

This report follows the general principles of economic development, accords with the basic facts of Tibet's economic and social development over the past 50 years, outlines Tibet's economic development, especially in the farming and pastoral areas, since the adoption of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, with a focus on development in recent years, and sets the well-being of Tibetans, especially farmers and herdsmen who are the majority of the Tibetan population, as the yardstick. From this standpoint, the report discusses the economic and social development of Tibet, and presents an objective and equitable exposition, analysis and summary of the realities, achievements and challenges in these fields. The objectives of the report are to provide:

-- A blueprint for a comprehensive understanding of the economic and social development of contemporary Tibet by those concerned with this field;

-- A source for making policies related to the further economic development of Tibet;

-- A review and summary of Tibet's economic development over the past 50 years since its democratic reform in 1959.

The China Tibetology Research Center, the promulgator of the report, is an academic research institution specializing in Tibetology. The authors of the report are Tibetan and Han Chinese researchers from the China Tibetology Research Center and other scholars who have been long engaged in the study of Tibet's development. In May 2008, the authors conducted on-the-spot surveys and case studies of the realities of Tibet's economic and social development after going through relevant materials and working out an outline. Following the completion of the first draft, the authors carried out another on-the-spot survey tour of Tibet in August and September 2008, adding new materials, and making revisions and improvements to the report. The structure and contents of the report are as follows:

I. Growth and Change: Basis of Development

Tibet's local GDP is growing rapidly, and its industrial structure is undergoing fundamental changes. The structural and proportional changes of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries signify a positive transformation of Tibet's conventional industrial structure, which exhibits both growth in quantity and enhancement of quality.