BEIJING, 8 August (Reuter) - China Friday hailed the growing private sector in Tibet, saying employment by non-state enterprises in the remote Himalayan region had soared 1,000 percent since 1980.

Despite the growth in private enterprise in the region dubbed the roof of the world, official figures showed that the scale of most non-state ventures remained small.

The number of private businesses in Tibet had grown to 38,000 from 489 in 1980, with revenues totalling $7.1 million, in 1996, the official Xinhua news agency said.

China has been eager to publicize economic success in Tibet, one of the nation's poorest regions and an area long troubled by sporadic pro-independence unrest.