LHASA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- The gross domestic product (GDP) in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region grew about 9 percent in 2019.

Tibet's GDP was estimated at more than 160 billion yuan (around 23 billion U.S. dollars) last year, Qizhala, chairman of the regional government, said in his government work report delivered Tuesday at the third session of the 11th People's Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region.

The per capita disposable income for the region's rural residents grew about 13 percent, while that for urban residents rose more than 10 percent.

Meanwhile, in 2019, Tibet created 52,000 urban jobs and maintained its urban registered unemployment rate within 3 percent.

The region also created more than 60,000 jobs for university graduates by improving employment policies and services, and 98.1 percent of Tibetan university graduates found jobs, according to the report.

Tibet also saw an improving business environment last year. Qizhala said the region saw a daily increase of over 200 market entities on average, bringing the region's total number of market entities to over 325,000, with a total registered capital of 1.5 trillion yuan.

Qizhala said in the report that in 2020 Tibet's GDP is expected to maintain a stable growth of 9 percent. The total retail sales of consumer goods aim to grow 10 percent this year.

Meanwhile, the per capita disposable income for the region's urban and rural residents in 2020 is estimated to grow 10 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Qizhala added that the region aims to create 50,000 urban jobs and ensure that the urban registered unemployment rate does not rise above 3.6 percent.