The Tibet Autonomous Region has formed a modern financial system, in which, the People's Bank of China is the leader, the Agricultural Bank of China and the Construction Bank of China are the mainstays, and other financial institutions play their own specialized role. In the whole region, there are about 700 financial institutions at various levels, plus four insurance companies.

On July 2, 1987, the Tibet Branch of the People's Insurance Co. of China (PICC) was inaugurated. It provides 46 types of insurance services. As the autonomous region features high mountains, dangerous roads, and backward transport facilities, transport means and liability insurance are the most salient feature of the insurance business in the region. In addition, there are the enterprise property, goods transportation, livestock breeding and mountaineering insurance, and safety insurance for middle and primary school students.

From the Fourth Tibet Work Conference in 1994 to the end of 2001, financial institutions in Tibet issued loans to the tune of 33.526 billion Yuan, representing an annual average increase of 15.56 percent, which is 3.14 percentage points higher than the GDP growth. This included loans amounting to 2.949 billion Yuan issued to the farming and pastoral areas and loans valued at 1.094 billion Yuan issued to aid the poverty-stricken people. By the end of 2000, loans issued to finance construction of infrastructure were valued at 3.109 billion Yuan, averaging an annual growth of 54.57 percent. Loans issued to finance development of tourism, pharmacy, mining, catering and other special industries reached 5.518 billion Yuan in value; and loans issued to finance the private economic sector were valued at 1.232 billion Yuan.

In 1993, with the support of the two stock exchanges in Shenzhen and Shanghai, the Stock Exchange Center of the Tibet Autonomous Region was set up in Lhasa. It has operational links with the two exchanges as Tibet's first financial market adopting modern means in management and operation.

In 1995, Tibet' s first stock, Tibetan Pearl, was floated. It was followed by the issue of Tibetan Golden Pearl, Lhasa Beer, Tibet Holy Land and others.

The Business Hall of the Lhasa Stock Exchange Center is installed with a large screen, computerized equipment for transactions and other modern equipment, which are valued at more than US$200,000. Its business turnover went up from 160 million Yuan in 1994 to 1.73 billion Yuan in 1998. Stock dealers include entrepreneurs, the self-employed, workers, farmers, herders, teachers and retirees. Their number has risen from 70 in 1993 to over 15,000 at present (half of them are Tibetan) ---a number about the same with those trading in Shanghai or Shenzhen.

The Lhasa Stock Exchange Center plans to open branches in Xigaze and Shannan.