These occasional events are used by Beijing to mark important moments in Tibet policy—the first followed on Hu Yaobang's reform initiative in 1980 and the second, in 1984, announced a series (43) of mostly prestige projects in Tibet; some were financed by various Chinese provinces in an initiative called the 'Help Tibet' campaign.
The Third Work Conference last July served to reinforce the support of the central leadership for rapid economic growth and hardline positions on religious and nationalities policy. Unlike the 1984 meeting, emphasis was placed on "strengthening basic industries and the improvement of infrastructural facilities". As President Jiang Zemin explained to Xinhua, "a relatively longer period of time is needed to lay the foundation of socialist market economy in Tibet, due to the undeveloped commodity economy and other reasons".
In fact, the proposals approved by the July conference, like several already implemented since 1992, represent an unprecedented and ambitious attempt to make Tibet more accessible and profitable for the mainland economy, through infrastructure development. Energy generation and improved facilities for road and air travel will increase the profitability of resource extraction, allow for greater population density and reduce Tibet's remoteness.
The Work Conference unveiled 62 projects as its development flagship, half of them funded or supported by provincial and municipal governments (24 percent of the total 2.3 billion Yuan investment). Included are three high-profile and somewhat controversial schemes, the power station at Yamdrok Lake (opposed by the late Panchen Lama), the Pangda airport renovation in Chamdo Prefecture, and 'China's largest chromite mine' known as 'Norbusa' in Lhoka Prefecture. Also prominent is highway construction on the Nepal and Qinghai routes.