The first brokerage house in the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China, opened in Lhasa on March 18. Its establishment will separate the operation and management functions of local trust business from that of securities transactions, saidXu Mingyang, vice-chairman of the regional government.

It will also accelerate the development of the local stock market in the wake of the national strategy to revive western China and promote the rational exploitation of local natural resources, he added.

The new brokerage has registered capital of 60 million yuan, and has set up business divisions in Lhasa and Shanghai.