An international seminar on Tibetan studies started in Beijing on Thursday, attracting 267 academics from 21 countries and regions including Mongolia, India, Japan, France, Australia and the United States.

The 5th Beijing International Seminar on Tibetan Studies is aimed at "preserving culture and serving society". The topics of discussion focus on social development in Tibet.

Tibetan studies are expanding in China, with the government investing heavily in the protection of traditional heritage, printing of historic texts in the Tibetan language and the cultivation of young researchers, Lhagpa Phuntshoks, director-general of the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing, said at the opening ceremony.