Tibet has planned to increase the size of non-public sector to half of economy in the coming five years, up from the current proportion of 40 percent.

"The non-public sector has become a new force in the sound and fast economic development in Tibet. We plan to make it account for half of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Tibet in five years," said Zhao Zhengxiu, director of the regional administration for industry and commerce.

The number of individual businesses has been increasing by 10 percent annually since 2000 and private enterprises 60 percent, Zhao said on the sidelines of the Tibet annual legislative session that concluded Tuesday.

Non-public enterprises in China mainly refer to private firms, foreign-funded companies and those invested by businessmen from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

Official figures show the country had 2.4 million non-public enterprises at the end of 2006, whose annual business revenue was 20 trillion yuan (US$2.7 trillion), surpassing that of state-owned companies.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2008)