Editing Tibet (section)

== Economy ==
{{Update section|date=October 2021}}{{Main|Economy of Tibet}}<!-- Please provide more non-PRC sources -->
[[File:Bos grunniens at Yundrok Yumtso Lake.jpg|thumb|left|The Tibetan [[yak]] is an integral part of Tibetan life.]]
The Tibetan economy is dominated by [[subsistence agriculture]]. Due to limited arable land, the primary occupation of the Tibetan Plateau is raising livestock, such as [[Domestic sheep|sheep]], cattle, [[Domestic goat|goats]], [[camel]]s, [[yak]]s, [[dzo]], and [[horse]]s.

The main crops grown are [[barley]], wheat, [[buckwheat]], [[rye]], potatoes, and assorted fruits and vegetables. Tibet is ranked the lowest among China's 31 provinces<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tibetjustice.org/reports/enviro/globalization.pdf |title=Globalization To Tibet |last=Tsering |first=Tashi |website=[[Tibet Justice Center]] |page=9 |access-date=July 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320160524/http://www.tibetjustice.org/reports/enviro/globalization.pdf |archive-date=March 20, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> on the Human Development Index according to UN Development Programme data.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tew.org/development/devel.tibet.update.html |title=Tibet Environmental Watch – Development |publisher=Tew.org |access-date=March 26, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608141028/http://www.tew.org/development/devel.tibet.update.html |archive-date=June 8, 2011}}</ref> In recent years, due to increased interest in Tibetan Buddhism, tourism has become an increasingly important sector, and is actively promoted by the authorities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.xzta.gov.cn/yww/ |title=China TIBET Tourism Bureau |access-date=March 7, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090831193021/http://www.xzta.gov.cn/yww/ |archive-date=August 31, 2009}}</ref> Tourism brings in the most income from the sale of handicrafts. These include Tibetan hats, jewelry (silver and gold), wooden items, clothing, quilts, fabrics, [[Tibetan rug]]s and carpets. The Central People's Government exempts Tibet from all taxation and provides 90% of Tibet's government expenditures.<ref>Grunfeld 1996, p. 224.</ref><ref>Xu Mingxu, "''Intrugues and Devoutness''", Brampton, p. 134, {{ISBN|1-896745-95-4}}</ref><ref>The 14th Dalai Lama affirmed that Tibetans within the TAR have never paid taxes to the Central People's Government, ''see'' {{ill|Pierre-Antoine Donnet|lt=Donnet, Pierre-Antoine|fr|Pierre-Antoine Donnet}}, "''Tibet mort ou vif''", 1994, p104 [Taiwan edition], {{ISBN|957-13-1040-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tibet's economy depends on Beijing |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6083766 |date=August 26, 2002 |publisher=NPR News|access-date=February 24, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226130442/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6083766|archive-date=December 26, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> However, most of this investment goes to pay migrant workers who do not settle in Tibet and send much of their income home to other provinces.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/01/how-xi-can-solve-the-tibet-problem/ |title=How Xi Can Solve The Tibet Problem |last1=Brown |first1=Kerry |date=January 11, 2014 |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat |access-date=January 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111025432/https://thediplomat.com/2014/01/how-xi-can-solve-the-tibet-problem/ |archive-date=January 11, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Farmer namtso.jpg|thumb|Pastoral [[nomad]]s constitute about 40% of the ethnic [[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] population.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/asia_pac_tibetan_nomads/html/1.stm In pictures: Tibetan nomads] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719114044/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/asia_pac_tibetan_nomads/html/1.stm |date=July 19, 2018 }} BBC News</ref>]]
Forty percent of the rural cash income in the Tibet Autonomous Region is derived from the harvesting of the fungus ''[[Ophiocordyceps sinensis]]'' (formerly ''Cordyceps sinensis''); contributing at least 1.8&nbsp;billion yuan, (US$225&nbsp;million) to the region's GDP.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of Tibet's Rural Economy |author=Daniel Winkler |journal=Economic Botany |date=November 2008 |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=291–305 |doi=10.1007/s12231-008-9038-3 |bibcode=2008EcBot..62..291W |s2cid=29381859}}</ref>

[[File:Tromzikhang 2018 01.jpg|thumb|[[Tromzikhang]] market in Lhasa]]

The [[Qingzang railway]] linking the [[Tibet Autonomous Region]] to [[Qinghai|Qinghai Province]] was opened in 2006, but it was controversial.<ref>{{cite news |title=China opens world's highest railway |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1676433.htm |date=July 1, 2005 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=July 1, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060706191619/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1676433.htm |archive-date=July 6, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=China completes railway to Tibet |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4345494.stm |date=October 15, 2005 |work=BBC News |access-date=July 4, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823211433/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4345494.stm |archive-date=August 23, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Dalai Lama Urges 'Wait And See' On Tibet Railway |url=http://www.tibetlink.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=329&Itemid=2 |date=June 30, 2006 |publisher=Deutsche Presse Agentur |access-date=July 4, 2006 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160522174107/http://www.tibetlink.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=329&Itemid=2 |archive-date=May 22, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In January 2007, the Chinese government issued a report outlining the discovery of a large mineral deposit under the [[Tibetan Plateau]].<ref name=Tibet12345>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/business/worldbusiness/25iht-mine.4345769.html |title=Valuable mineral deposits found along Tibet railroad route |newspaper=New York Times |date=January 25, 2007|access-date=January 6, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724080417/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/25/business/worldbusiness/25iht-mine.4345769.html|archive-date=July 24, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The deposit has an estimated value of $128&nbsp;billion and may double Chinese reserves of zinc, copper, and lead. The Chinese government sees this as a way to alleviate the nation's dependence on foreign mineral imports for its growing economy. However, critics worry that mining these vast resources will harm Tibet's fragile ecosystem and undermine Tibetan culture.<ref name=Tibet12345/>

On January 15, 2009, China announced the construction of Tibet's first expressway, the [[Lhasa Airport Expressway]], a {{convert|37.9|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} stretch of [[controlled-access highway]] in southwestern Lhasa. The project will cost 1.55&nbsp;billion [[Chinese yuan|yuan]] (US$227&nbsp;million).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a_Tg57.MXpcY&refer=asia |title=China Says 'Sabotage' by Dalai Lama Supporters Set Back Tibet |last=Peng |first=James |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=January 16, 2009|access-date=February 7, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014072312/http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080|archive-date=October 14, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

From January 18–20, 2010, a national conference on Tibet and areas inhabited by Tibetans in Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai was held in China and a plan to improve development of the areas was announced. The conference was attended by General secretary [[Hu Jintao]], [[Wu Bangguo]], [[Wen Jiabao]], [[Jia Qinglin]], [[Li Changchun]], [[Xi Jinping]], [[Li Keqiang]], [[He Guoqiang]] and [[Zhou Yongkang]], all members of [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party]]. The plan called for improvement of rural Tibetan income to national standards by 2020 and free education for all rural Tibetan children. China has invested 310&nbsp;billion yuan (about 45.6&nbsp;billion U.S. dollars) in Tibet since 2001.<ref>[http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-01/22/c_13147500.htm "China to achieve leapfrog development, lasting stability in Tibet"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127211201/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2010-01/22/c_13147500.htm |date=January 27, 2010 }} news.xinhuanet.com/english</ref>{{Better source needed|date=October 2021}}

=== Development zone ===
The State Council approved Tibet [[Lhasa Economic and Technological Development Zone]] as a state-level development zone in 2001. It is located in the western suburbs of Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It is {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=off}} away from the [[Gonggar Airport]], and {{convert|2|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} away from Lhasa Railway Station and {{convert|2|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} away from 318 national highway.

The zone has a planned area of {{convert|5.46|km2|2|abbr=on}} and is divided into two zones. Zone A developed a land area of {{convert|2.51|km2|2|abbr=on}} for construction purposes. It is a flat zone, and has the natural conditions for good drainage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/lasa-economic-technology-development-zone/ |title=Lhasa Economic & Technology Development Zone |publisher=RightSite.asia |access-date=December 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706085318/http://rightsite.asia/en/industrial-zone/lasa-economic-technology-development-zone |archive-date=July 6, 2011}}</ref>