The Center for Editing and Translation of Teaching Materials, the Tibet People's Publishing House and others were cited at the opening ceremony of the region's second working conference on Tibetan language.

"Use of Tibetan facilitates social and economic progress in Tibet as well as communication between different ethnic groups,” said Li Liguo, secretary-general of the Regional Party Committee.

In his opening remarks, Laiqoi, chairman of the regional government, urged financial and personnel support for the promotion of Tibetan.

A growing contingent of people, including some from Han and other ethnic groups, have been trained in Tibetan language and culture.

"But the current pool of talents in this field is far from meeting demand in terms of both quantity and quality,” said Laiqoi. "Particular attention should be paid to the study of the language and the cultivation of translation specialists.”

Laiqoi pressed financial departments at all levels to increase monetary and technical support.

Ethnic Tibetans account for 96 per cent of the region's population. More than 80 per cent of ethnic Tibetans in the region live in agricultural and pastoral areas.

Despite the growing popularity of the mandarin, Tibetan dominates outside major cities.

The Tibet Autonomous Region issued provisions on learning, use and development of Tibetan and corresponding regulations on implementation in 1987 and 1988. The first working conference on Tibetan was held in 1991.

During the three-day ongoing conference, participants will exchange ideas and review a report by the regional guiding committee for the Tibetan language about regulations and future priorities.

(China Daily)