Economic development benefits everyone of every ethnic group in Tibet, a well-known Tibetologist told reporters on Wednesday.

"Everyone who has been to Tibet will find great improvements in the infrastructure and living standards of the local people, compared with three decades ago," said Prof. Tanzen Lhundrup, the deputy director of the Institute of Social and Economic Studies with the China Tibetology Research Center (CTRC).

"It is undeniable that the Tibetan people have shared the fruits of China's economic reform and opening-up and taken an active part in the country's development," he said.

The economic output of Tibet, with an average altitude above 4,000 meters, was 34.2 billion yuan (US$4.78 billion) last year. The region has a population of about 2.61 million, of whom 92.2 percent are Tibetan. Thus, economic output per capita exceeded 12,000 yuan in 2007.

The per capita net income of farmers and nomads reached 2,788 yuan.

Government policies in Tibet are aimed at raising the living standards of all people, which has always been the case, Tanzen Lhundrup said.

Since the 1980s, the government has drawn up special policies and programs for Tibet based on the local situation, and the rest of the country contributed funds, resources and personnel, he said.

Since 1994, the rest of China has financed 2,861 development projects in Tibet at a total cost of 9.3 billion yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2008)