BEIJING, May 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The technique of highland barely beer making was evaluated worth 52.9 million yuan, according to the Intellectual Property Office of Tibet Autonomous Region.

    Tibet introduced patent value assessment in September last year. In may this year, the office invited authoritative organizations to assess the preparation and making of highland barely beer, winner of Tibet's Tenth Paten Outstanding Award, said Jiang Nan, vice director of the Intellectual Property Office.

A staff handles cases of highland barley beer at the Lhasa Railway Station, May 18, 2009. The first batch of plateau barley beer totaling 11,340 cases will be transported to Tianjing via the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and then exported to California and Washington, U.S. (Xinhua/ Hu Xing) Photo Gallery>>>

    It is recorded that the Tibetan ethnic group has a long history of making beer with highland barley. In recent years, the highland barely beer, produced by the Lhasa Beer Limited Company and first introduced to the market in 2002, has become popular among consumers in the region and in other parts of China.

    In 2004, the highland barley beer and its method of making won the first place in Tibet's Prize for Progress in Science and Technology.

    In February 2008, it chopped the outstanding award of China's Paten Prize. After years of marketing and development, the sales volume of the Lhasa Beer Limited Company shot up to 3,000 tons.

    On May 18 this year, 11,340 boxes of highland barley beer, each containing 24 bottles, were first exported by the company to the United States.

    "It shows that we have the capability to produce beer that is up to the international standards. It also indicates that the export of products that are made of highland barely and have undergone intensive processing can play an active role in developing Tibet's economy," said Luobu Tsering, vice manager of the beer company.

    He estimated that the sales volume of the beer this year will reach 5,000 tons and next year, 10,000 tons.

    In April, the Lhasa Beer Limited Company started construction of a production line with an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons that will involve a total investment of 800 million yuan. 

    "By October next year, the production line can be put into operation and its producing capacity is able to meet the demands of domestic and international markets," said the vice manager. By then, highland barely beer from Tibet will be drunk worldwide.

    (Source: Tibet Business/Xinhuanet)

Lhasa to install beer production line, upgrade power grid 

    BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhuanet) -- The projects to upgrade Lhasa's urban power grid and build a barley beer production base were launched in Lhasa Economic Development Zone Sunday.

    The grid project that will cost 235 million yuan involves the construction of a 110-kv substations in the Lhasa Economic Development Zone, and reconstruction of four ones as well as small- and medium-voltage lines. Full story