Devendra Kumar
In June, Wang Junzheng (王君正), Party Secretary for the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR; 西藏自治区), went on an inspection tour of the Lhasa Economic-Technological Development Zone (Lhasa ETDZ, 国家级拉萨经济技术开发区) in the regional capital’s Doilungdêqên District (堆龙德庆区). While there, he instructed officials to improve various aspects of the zone to help boost businesses such as cross-border e-commerce and support Tibetan products to “go out,” creating a new source of growth for the region’s foreign trade (Lhasa Daily, June 13). The readout of Wang’s visit reflects a concerted focus on ETDZs and expanding overseas trade as local growth drivers.
The government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been trying to recalibrate Tibet’s economy over the last 15 years. In 2008, angry protests triggered a shift in government policy to massive investments in internal security and tighter control of the socio-cultural sphere (see China Brief; May 13, 2008, September 21, 2017, September 22, 2020). Although the region has registered growth rates above the national average since the 1990s, this has largely been fueled by massive subsidies and transfer payments by the central government. [1] Since 2008, the government has focused on developing the tourism, mining, and construction industries, but their potential to help shift to indigenous growth remains limited. Provincial policymakers therefore have launched an array of initiatives that broadly replicate the growth model of inland provinces (内地).
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