Tibetan Review
February 9, 2010

The economy of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) will
grow by at least 14 percent this year and may
outpace the PRC’s for a decade as a result of
boosts in Beijing’s spending there after the Jan
18-20 fifth Tibet work Forum Meeting of the
Politburo in Beijing, reported Bloomberg Feb 8,
citing China International Capital Corp. The
forum decided to bring about a leapfrog economic
development and lasting stability in the occupied
territory over the next ten years.

The TAR’s economy has already been growing faster
than the PRC’s as a whole since 1994, with its
economic output witnessing a surge after the
previous four major policy conferences, the report noted.

According to the report, the TAR will see
investment from China jump by almost 500 million
yuan (US$73.2 million) to more than 2.3 billion
yuan this year. It noted that Tibetan stocks
listed in Shanghai had rallied the week before on
the spending plans, with travel services provider
Tibet Shengdi Co. climbing 22 percent.

However, although China’s massive spending will
no doubt boost growth statistics, the per capita
increase in income and the like are likely to be
accounted for by the far higher income of rising
immigrant Chinese workers, entrepreneurs,
officials, and the like. In that sense, rising
development and income is hardly likely to
contribute to stability but may, in fact, exacerbate it.