China's central government invested 204 million yuan (24.58 million US dollars) in Tibet to fight poverty last year, according to the Aid-the-Poor and Development Office in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

The investment was up six percent from 2003 and has been spent on about 200 projects, including infrastructure construction, agricultural irrigation and vocational training, according to the office.

The number of Tibetans earning less than 1,300 yuan (157 US dollars) of net income each year has been reduced to 860,000 in 2004 from 1.07 million in 2003, according to the regional statistics bureau.

Source: Xinhua