China will continue to invest heavily in its southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) which is expected to hit 26 billion yuan this year, Xinhuanet reported.

The Chinese central government has increased investment in Tibet along with the implementation of a range of preferential policies in the last six decades, especially after the 5th National Conference on Work in Tibet was held in Beijing as an impetus to the rapid economic growth of the region.

During the 11th Five-Year Plan Period (2006-2010), the regional investment in fixed assets has amounted to 163.3 million yuan, exceeding the total amount of the past fifty-five years after the peaceful liberation of Tibet.

A series of key projects financed by the State Council started to be constructed one after another in 2010, such as the Lhasa-Shigatse section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau power grid interconnection project.

The Laohuzui Hydroelectric Power Station, one of the key electric power projects during the 11th Five-Year Plan Period, is expected to put into use soon while some are to come into operation within 2011.

Between 2006 and 2010, the state investment totaling 137.8 billion yuan has supported 188 key projects in various fields in Tibet, involving transportation, energy, water conservancy, agriculture and animal husbandry, education, healthy care and so on, said Jin Shixun, director of Tibet Development and Reform Commission.

Of total, 33 projects with an investment of 27 billion yuan are launched for the purpose of improving the living standard of farmers and herdsmen, who take up more than 80 percent of the population in Tibet.

Besides, the per capita net income of rural people across the region has nearly doubled to 4,138.71 yuan in 2010 from 2,078 yuan in 2005.