Tourists select souvenirs in Nyingchi, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, April 3, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Nyingchi, a popular tourist destination in the Xizang autonomous region, has experienced rapid socioeconomic development in recent years, which in turn has steadily improved people's livelihoods, local officials said.

In 2024, Nyingchi's GDP reached 26.7 billion yuan ($3.72 billion), with an average annual growth rate of more than 8 percent. Urban and rural residents' per capita disposable income rose to 49,621 yuan and 27,427 yuan, respectively, with respective average annual growth rates of more than 6 percent and 8 percent, according to Li Shijiang, executive vice-mayor of Nyingchi, at a news conference on Friday.

"The city aims to become the hub of southeastern Xizang while continuing to develop as a premier tourist destination," Li said.

With continuous infrastructure improvement, Nyingchi's integrated transportation network, including rail, aviation and highway connectivity, is gradually taking shape and positioning the city as the primary gateway to Xizang, Li said.

From January to May this year, Nyingchi welcomed 6.03 million domestic and international tourists, generating tourism revenue of 5.24 billion yuan, up 9.34 percent and 13.16 percent year-on-year, respectively. In 2024, the city received 15.31 million visitors, with total tourism revenue exceeding 13.82 billion yuan, a respective increase of 16.26 percent and 18.7 percent compared with 2021, according to local statistics.

In addition to striving to become a world-class eco-cultural tourism destination, Nyingchi has been advancing the development of clean energy, trade and under-forest cultivation in recent years.

The city's specialty agricultural products, such as apples, matsutake mushrooms, tea and gastrodia elata - an orchid commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine -have reached domestic and international markets, including the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Nepal and Canada.

"This not only enhances the reputation of Nyingchi's products, but also provides new income opportunities for local residents," Li noted.

In 2024, Nyingchi's foreign trade volume reached 8.42 million yuan, up more than 573 percent.The city received 57,000 overseas tourists, a surge of 288.45 percent year-on-year, generating 160 million yuan in foreign exchange earnings, a 282.5 percent increase compared with the previous year, local statistics show.

The initial framework of an industrial cluster of clean energy has taken shape in Nyingchi. Nine major State-owned enterprises and industrial chain companies in fields such as hydropower materials, photovoltaic power equipment, lithium battery energy storage and hydrogen energy development have settled in the Nyingchi Economic Development Zone. The city's total installed capacity of clean energy has exceeded 460,000 kilowatts, according to Li.

The city also leverages its forest resources to develop under-forest cultivation.

By the end of 2024, the city's under-forest cultivation area for Tibetan medicinal herbs such as gastrodia elata and fritillaria had reached 583.3 hectares, while edible fungi covered more than 60.7 hectares.

Currently, 438 villages in Nyingchi have collective village incomes exceeding 50,000 yuan, accounting for 86.4 percent of the total.

"The city has made solid progress in consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation," Li said.

Per capita disposable income in the border counties of Nyingchi has reached 26,000 yuan, driven by the city's efforts to address infrastructure gaps and develop characteristic local industries in these regions, according to Li.