A: Tibet was ruled as a feudal serfdom before the 1959 Democratic Reform, and its geographical location closed it to other parts of China, as well as the rest of the world. Its social production therefore remained stagnant for a long period, and agriculture and animal husbandry were its economic bases. During the 1920s, the local government of Tibet established industries, such as wool plant, paper mill and hydropower station but due to the lack of skilled technicians, they were often inactive.

 

Since the democratic reform, great support for industrial development has been forthcoming to Tibet from the central government and people throughout China. Engineers and technicians have been sent from the interior to help develop modern industries in Tibet, and its industrial progress has now entered a new era. In the mid-1950s, the first public power enterprise in Tibet, the Lhasa Power Station, was constructed. Later, the state invested in the construction of the Yangbajain Power Plant, the largest geothermal power plant in China. 

 

After several decades of concerted efforts, modern industries have gradually been strengthened in Tibet, and an industrial system has been formed there, with the power industry, mining, building materials, machinery, pharmaceuticals, processing of agricultural and livestock products, and folk handicrafts as its mainstay. There are now some 260 medium-sized and small enterprises in Tibet with 51,000 employees. The production scale in Tibet has continued to expand, its industrial structure having become more rationalized, and technological standards and the quality of products having gradually improved. The output of Tibet's main industrial products has seen sharp increases, the investment scale has continued to enlarge, and there have been great achievements in improving its infrastructure facilities.