LHASA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Almost 12,000 talents in 10 batches have gone to southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region since a pairing-up assistance program was initiated 30 years ago, the regional government said Thursday.

Over the past three decades, the number of talents selected to assist Xizang's development has increased steadily, from 622 in the first batch to 2,117 in the 10th batch, said Song Liqiang, deputy head of the organization department of the regional Party committee, and such a talent himself.

The composition of these batches of talents, consisting of professionals, technicians, government officials and enterprise managers, has become more optimized over the years in terms of gender, educational background, age and professional structure, Song added.

In 1994, the central government made a strategic decision to rally national support for Xizang. Under the policy of pairing-up assistance for the region, some central state organs, provincial-level regions and centrally administered state-owned enterprises were designated to assist in specific areas of Xizang, injecting strong impetus into the development of the plateau region.