Timor-Leste is listed by the United Nations Development Program as the poorest country in Asia and one of the 20 most backward countries in the world. Its economy is in the stage of reconstruction.

The economy is dominated by agriculture, the infrastructure is backward, food is not self-sufficient, and there is no industrial system or manufacturing foundation.

Since separating from Indonesia in 1999, the economy has mainly relied on foreign aid and international institutions to drive local consumption. In 2001, GDP increased by 18%, reaching US$387 million.

However, as international employees evacuated in large numbers, the service industry shrank sharply, and droughts and floods caused agricultural harvests, economic growth declined sharply. GDP in 2003 and 2004 were US$341 and US$353 million respectively.

People live in poverty, and residents in some areas are basically in a natural economic state.

The Timor-Leste government has focused its economic development on infrastructure reconstruction, improving agriculture, and developing oil and gas resources, and has increased investment in these areas and is committed to promoting sustainable economic development.

Timor-Leste's economic structure (2001) is that the service industry accounts for 57%, agriculture 25%, and industry 17%. It has oil and natural gas resources, but these two resources are controlled by Australian companies.

In 2001, the import value reached US$237 million; the export value was US$8 million.

Mainly imported machinery products.

The main export products are coffee, rubber, rosewood, crude oil, and natural gas.

Timor-Leste's macroeconomic data (unit: 100 million U.S. dollars) In 2009, the gross national product was 4.56, the real GDP growth rate was 5.0%, and the inflation rate was 1.8%. East Timor's industrial base is weak, with only small-scale processing industries in Dili and nearby areas.

It mainly exports coffee, coconut, rosewood, and rubber; coffee, rubber, and rosewood are known as the "Three Treasures of Timor".

It mainly imports food, textiles, vehicles and other industrial products.

The industrial output value in 2009 was US$58 million, accounting for 12.8% of the GDP.

Mainly engaged in printing, soap, handkerchief and textile industries.

The annual power generation capacity is 137 million kilowatt hours.

The mining industry is dominated by oil and natural gas.

In order to expand oil and gas revenue, the Timor-Leste government established a petroleum fund in July 2005 and established the National Petroleum Administration in July 2008.

The average monthly oil and gas revenue since 2007 has been US$100 million. With the increase in international crude oil market prices, the Timor-Leste Petroleum Fund's revenue was US$2.84 billion in 2012 and US$2.693 billion in 2013.

As of December 31, 2013, the oil fund had accumulated US$14.9 billion, making it the main pillar of East Timor's economy.

According to IMF estimates, oil revenue accounts for 78% of Timor-Leste's total GDP and 95% of its total exports.

Taboo The East Timorese people have martial customs, and crowd fights often occur.

Chinese citizens in Timor-Leste are alone in a foreign land. They should remain calm and restrained when encountering problems, and try to avoid direct conflicts with local people. They may become targets of group violence and endanger their own safety.

When encountering a convoy of weddings, funerals or church activities, it must stop to avoid it and is not allowed to overtake. It is a folk custom that East Timorese women often bring these three things as small gifts to the hostess when visiting other people's homes, so that they will receive more warm hospitality.

This kind of thing belongs to women's patent. It is a traditional custom for a man to sit around and eat together only once when he goes to his father-in-law's house to propose marriage.

However, professional women rarely use makeup in this way. They also like to wear lipstick, eye shadow and some cosmetics.

East Timorese are brown people, but they say they prefer whiter skin to black.

It is customary for men in many areas of East Timor to live a leisurely life. Women are responsible for chopping firewood, carrying water, farming, and taking care of their children. The only work the men do is to carry a machete on their waist and go up the tree to pick some coconuts.

Back home, some fisherman family men are also responsible for going out to sea to fish.

Women are used to taking on everything.

There is an Australian female linguist studying the local language and culture here. She is deliberately integrating into the local people, eating and living with the locals, speaking the local language, and working with the locals.