A new county established on Friday in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region has become the world's highest county-level administrative unit.

With an average elevation of 5,000 meters, Shuanghu County is located in Nagqu Prefecture and was previously administered by Nyima County. Shuanghu is named after the two lakes of Kamru and Racho in its jurisdiction.

Although the county's Purog Kangri Glacier, the third largest in the world, has served to draw tourists to the area, the local economy is lackluster due to poor living conditions and transport infrastructure, said Namphel, head of the county committee of the Communist Party of China.

Namphel said Shuanghu had established its own people's congress, political consultative conference, court and procuratorate to match its new status.