Farmers of Laixi Village, Lhongzi County, Shannan Prefecture, Tibet, harvest potatoes on Sep. 9, 2009. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    LHASA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Tibet's economy grew 11.4 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters thanks to rapid growth in fixed-asset investment and retail sales, local statistics bureau said Saturday.

    The gross domestic product amounted to 30.6 billion yuan (4.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months. The GDP growth rate is 3.7 percentage points higher than the national average rate of 7.7 percent.

    During the first nine months, investment in fixed-asset surged 33.7 percent annually to 27.6 billion yuan. Retail sales rose 23.9percent to 11.3 billion yuan and industrial output jumped 12 percent to 2 billion yuan.

    The per capita disposal income of urban households increased by8.5 percent to 10,246 yuan, while the cash income of each farmer or herdsman went up by 15.5 percent to 2,312 yuan.

    The southwestern autonomous region received 4.8 million domestic and overseas tourists during the period, an increase of 180 percent from the same period last year.

2nd Forum on Development in China's Tibet

Lhasa's retail sales up sharply in 3Q

    BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Tibet's capital of Lhasa posted retail sales of 5.82 billion yuan (700 million U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of this year, up 25.34 percent year on year.

    The urban consumption of 4.37 billion yuan accounted for 75.1 percent of the total, with a 21.21 percent rise over the same period of 2008.

Lhasa's tax revenue tops 526 mln in 1st 9 months

    BEIJING, Oct. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Tibet's capital of Lhasa collected taxes totalling 526 million yuan (63.65 million U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of 2009, up 2.37 percent year on year.

    Lhasa's tax revenue began to rebound sharply in the first quarter of 2009 after a drop of 55.1 percent in January, according to the Lhasa Taxation Bureau.

Tibet's total output value exceeds 30.6 bln yuan in first 9 months 

    BEIJING, Oct. 16 -- The total output value of Tibet Autonomous Region exceeded 30.66 billion yuan from January to September, up 11.5 percent year on year.

    Of the total, the secondary industry accounted for nine billion yuan, a 20.5 percent increase.