Private businesses contribute to Tibet's trade

Private businesses in Tibet have seen robust foreign trade growth, reporting 1.71 billion US dollars of imports and exports in the first eight months this year, a year-on-year increase of 280 percent.

The figure accounted for 87 percent of the total foreign trade of the autonomous region in southwest China, according to the local customs.

State-owned enterprises in the region, however, reported a 6.2-percent decline in foreign trade in the same period, registering 190 million US dollars.

Adjacent to India, Nepal, Myanmar and other south and southeast Asian countries, Tibet has reported continuous growth of foreign trade thanks to improved transport infrastructures, including the epoch-making Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest railroad which was put into operation in 2006.

The total volume of imports and exports in Tibet hit 1.36 billion US dollars in 2011, a rise of 62.5 percent year on year, setting a new record.