In 2007, taking full advantage of the historical chance of the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Tibet worked hard to raise consumption hotspots so as to promote economic growth. By means of developing tourism, project construction and increasing the cash income of farmers and herders, the region vigorously enlarged the scale of social consumption, resulting in a significantly elevated social consumption level. The retail sales of consumer goods reached 11.201 billion Yuan, an increase of 24.9 percent or 8.2 percentage points higher than the investment growth. Consumption in such sectors as retails, accommodation, catering, clothes, bullion and jewelry, autonobiles and oil products rose by a fairly large margin. Consumption contributed 7.7 percentage points to economic growth, some 1 percentage point higher than that of the previous year.

In addition, the financial policies implemented by the regional government also played a significant role in promoting consumption. Such measure as increasing the wages and subsidies for people in poverty and giving more support to people with low income were adopted to raise social consumtion. The financial sector developed such credit businesses in house purchasing, consumer durable goods and automobile as well as house decoration and furnishing to expand new field of consumption. At the end of 2007, the consumer loan balance reached 5.2 billion Yuan, an increase of 10 percent. The driving force for economic growth was transformed from coming solely from investment to both investment and consumption; the economic structure was further improved.

( Source: China's Tibet Facts & Figures 2008 )