LHASA, Dec. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The gross domestic product (GDP) of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region is expected to reach 21.27 billion yuan (2.56 billion US dollars) in 2004, a year-on-year growth of 12.3 percent, according to a regional economic conference on Thursday.

    This is the first time for Tibet's GDP to exceed 20 billion yuan (2.4 billion US dollars) after its average growth of more than 12 percent in four consecutive years.

    As a powerful impetus to the region's economic growth, fixed assets investment in important projects is estimated to hit a record high of 16.67 billion yuan (about 2 billion US dollars), a year-on-year rise of 20.2 percent, according to the participants of the conference.

    The living conditions of farmers and herdsmen in the region have been greatly improved thanks to the heavy investment of the autonomous region's government in local agriculture and animal husbandry.

    In 2004, tourism and Tibetan medicine industries will account for about 11.2 percent of the region's GDP. Enditem