A first Chinese-Tibetan bilingual smartphone that developed by Huawei, China Telecom's Tibetan branch and the University of Tibet was shown off on Oct 29, 2013 in Lhasa. [Photo / Xinhua]

LHASA -- The first Chinese-Tibetan bilingual smartphone debuted in Lhasa, capital of Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, on Monday night to cater for millions of Tibetans.

The smartphone, Huawei C8815, has a bilingual input method and costs 990 yuan ($161). It has been developed by Chinese technology giant Huawei, China Telecom's Tibetan branch and the University of Tibet.

Users can install Tibetan-language applications on the phone.

More than 80 percent of the Tibetan population live in remote rural and pastoral areas, many of whom do not understand the Chinese language.

The Chinese central government and Tibet regional government have invested more than 1 billion yuan since 2008 on technological application of the Tibetan language, including the development of Tibetan-language office software and digital dictionaries.