Tibet's GDP up 12%, topping national average

Tibet witnessed stable economic development last year, the region's statistics bureau said on Thursday.

Tibet's GDP reached more than 80 billion yuan ($13 billion) in 2013, with an annual increase of 12.1 percent.

"It is higher than the national average by 4.4 percentage points," said Liu Baicheng, head of the bureau.

"It is the first time that Tibet has ranked at the top with growth speed within the 12 western provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Moreover, Tibet was ranked on top nationwide," Liu said.

Tibet has achieved a cumulative fixed asset investment of nearly 92 billion yuan ($15.1 billion), an increase of 29 percent over the past year.

In the tourism industry, Tibet welcomed more than 12 million tourists from home and abroad, with an increase of 22 percent year on year, according to the bureau. The total income generated by the tourism industry hit 16.5 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) last year, up 30 percent.

The per capita income of urban residents reached 22,561 yuan ($3,722) in 2013, up 11.6 percent year on year. The average per capita disposable income was 20,023 yuan ($3,300), an increase of 11.1 percent.