Locals dressed in their finest traditional attire take a selfie at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa, Xizang Autonomous Region on December 1, 2025. Locals gathered outside the temple to welcome the upcoming Pal Lhamo Festival, which falls on the 15th day of the 10th month of the Tibetan calendar. Photo: VCG

Data from Lhasa Customs showed that the total value of goods trade of Xizang reached 8.479 billion yuan ($1.22 billion) in 2025, fulfilling the foreign trade scale target of 6 billion yuan set under the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period. Exports of combed pure wool yarn jumped by 80 times year-on-year, while those of wine surged by 17 times and those of Tibetan incense rose by two times.

Pork from Nyingchi and red wine from Shannan Prefecture, both in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region were exported for the first time in 2025, while natural drinking water from Ngari Prefecture entered the South Asian market, signaling continuous optimization in the quality and structure of the region's foreign trade, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. 

As Xizang further expanded its opening-up, the region conducted import and export trade with 155 countries or regions in 2025. Behind the growth of foreign trade is the increasingly improved multi-dimensional transportation network supporting Xizang's external connectivity, according to the report.

In April 2025, Xizang's first international air cargo terminal was officially put into operation, with the total value of imports and exports transported by air reaching 440 million yuan for the year. Leveraging a rail-road intermodal transport model, the South Asia freight train enabled domestically produced new-energy vehicles to be delivered from their places of origin to Nepal within 10 days.

Private enterprises played a dominant role in Xizang's foreign trade. In 2025, private firms in the region recorded total trade of 7.268 billion yuan, accounting for 85.7 percent of Xizang's total foreign trade, the report noted. 

Xizang's GDP in 2025 exceeded 300 billion yuan, according to the local statistics bureau, Xinhua reported on January 22, 2026. Notably, it took Xizang 50 years, from its establishment in 1965 to 2015, for its GDP to exceed 100 billion yuan; six more years to surpass 200 billion yuan in 2021; and four more years to break the 300 billion yuan mark.

Global Times