Not a cent taken from Tibet in 50 years In the 50 years since the democratic reform in Tibet, the central government finance has never taken a cent from Tibet, according to the Statistical Bureau of Tibet Autonomuous Region.

Meanwhile, the central finance's transfer payments to Tibet have been increasing.

In the 50 years, to promote economic and social development in Tibet, the central government has brought a series of beneficial policies into effect, for instance, strong financial support. Statistics shows that, from 1951 to 2008, the central government invested more than 100 billion yuan RMB just on infrastructure construction. Also in this period, transfer payments of the central finance to Tibet exceeded 201.9 billion yuan RMB, with an annual growth rate of 12 percent.

By the end of 2008, within the 11th Five-Year Plan period, the central government's financial subsidy to Tibet reached 62.5 billion yuan RMB, 24.7 billion more than the figure in the 10th Five-Year Plan period.

With the vigorous support from the central finance and the strong momentum of its leapfrogging economic development, Tibet's financial strength has witnessed remarkable growth.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)