These grants have been used in more than 100 economic and technological cooperation projects in the fields of public health, poverty relief, energy, communications, agriculture and animal husbandry.

Vice-Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Long Yongtu told the seminar that with support from central government, other regions in China and the international community, social and economic development of Tibet had entered the best period in history.

He expressed the hope that through the seminar, the aid giving countries would deepen their understanding of Tibet and increase their contributions to the region.

Kerstin Leitner, resident representative of the United Nations Development Program in China, said that in spite of significant improvements on some key development fronts, the Tibet Autonomous Region continued to lag behind the other provinces and regions of China. Therefore all parties should increase cooperation to push forward economic development in the region.

Tibet has a population of 2.5 million and accounts for one eighth of China's total land area. Besides international aid, the region is also expected to receive more than 70 billion yuan (US$8.43 billion) of funds from the central government during China's 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005).

(People?s Daily June 26, 2002)