Development of a market economy will help Tibetans increase their wealth and improve their living conditions, said Xu Ping, an expert with China National Centre for Tibetan Studies.

Speaking at a symposium on the campaign to develop western China and modernization in Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas, Xu revealed that there is a noticeable gap between the economic development of the country's eastern regions and that of Tibet. He concluded that ethnic groups, including Tibetan people, should be increasingly encouraged to participate in market activities.

Gelek Gesang, also with the centre, said the development of a market-oriented economy is a prerequisite to modernization in Tibet. In the past two decades, the market has brought advanced technologies and qualified professionals to Tibet.

Gesang claimed a "private economy will be one of the most important factors in Tibet's general development, though the development of the private economy is currently in its infancy in the areas inhabited by Tibetan people."

Experts attending the symposium pointed out that the State Council has stressed the necessity of studying new ideas under new situations as the government carries out the campaign to develop the west. They also pointed out that the 15th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) raised the concept of system innovations at its fifth plenary session last month. Both of these ideas offer a theoretical basis for economic development in areas inhabited by the Tibetan people, they claimed.

Before China carried out democratic reform in areas inhabited by ethnic groups in 1959, the Tibetan people, who had lived under a feudal serf system, were unable to start large-scale economic and trade activities.

After democratic reforms took effect, agriculture and animal husbandry became Tibet's prime forms of production. Most local farmers and herdsmen elected to rely on the natural economy for their way of life. Only about 10 per cent of farmers and herdsmen have been engaged in commercial activates since the country as a whole embarked on the road to reform and opening up in the late 1970s, the experts said.

Statistics show that the per capita net income of farmers and herdsmen in Tibet was 1,258 yuan (US$151.56) last year, only 53.2 per cent of the national average.

Ran Guangrong, a professor from Sichuan University, said efforts should be made to expand the private economy in Tibet and other areas inhabited by Tibetan people so that an overwhelming majority of farmers and herdsmen will be introduced to the market economy and eventually benefit from the development in the areas.

Western regions inhabited by ethnic groups are in still the primary stages of industrialization, said Ran.

He suggested that, in areas inhabited by Tibetan people where the economic foundation is weak, residents should try simple private economic endeavours, such as household-based industries, processing of farm produce and sideline products, and family tourism services.