In 1949 the People's Republic of China was founded. Proceeding in cognizance of Tibet's history and present reality, the Central People's Government determined a policy of peaceful liberation. On May 23, 1951, representatives from the Central People's Government and the local government of Tibet agreed on a series of issues regarding Tibet's peaceful liberation, signing the Agreement of the Central People's Government and the Local Government of Tibet on Measures for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet (known as the 17-Article Agreement). The 17-Article Agreement contains two main points:

First, the Central Government demanded that the Tibetan local government actively assist the People's Liberation Army as they entered and garrisoned Tibet to strengthen national defence and resolutely drive imperialist forces out of Tibet. All of Tibet's affairs involving the outside world were to be handled by the Central Government and the Tibetan army would step by step be absorbed into the People's Liberation Army.

Second, the Central People's Government would not alter Tibet's current system or the Dalai Lama's inherent status and authority. The Tibetan people's customs would be respected and their religious freedom protected. The reform of Tibetan society would be decided after consultation with Tibetan leaders. Regional autonomy for minority people would be instituted in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The 14th Dalai Lama and the 10th Panchen Erdeni separately telegraphed their acceptance of the 17-Article Agreement to Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central People's Government, resolutely upholding the unity of the motherland's sovereignty. Other Tibetans, monastic and secular, and local Tibetan leaders expressed their firm support as well. This date marks a new page in Tibetan history.

In 1954 the 14th Dalai Lama and the 10th Panchen Erdeni went to Beijing to attend the first session of the First National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. During this conference, the 14th Dalai Lama was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and the 10th Panchen Erdeni member of the NPC Standing Committee.

In 1956, the Preparatory Committee for the Founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region was founded with the 14th Dalai Lama as its chairman.

In March 1959, the majority of the Galoon officials in the Tibetan local government joined with the reactionary clique of the upper social strata to launch an armed rebellion with the aim of splitting the country, preserving the feudal serf system and opposing democratic reform. The Central People's Government ordered the PLA in Tibet resolutely to quell the rebellion. On March 28 of the same year, Zhou Enlai, Premier of the State Council of the Central People's Government, released an order dissolving the Tibetan local government, and declaring that the functions and authority of the Tibetan local government would be vested in the Preparatory Committee for the Founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region. At this same time, the Central People's Government, responding to the will of the Tibetan people, implemented democratic reform and abolished the feudal serf system in Tibet. As a result, the million serfs and slaves in Tibet stood up and came into their own, instead of being treated as the private property of serf-owners that could be traded, transferred or used to pay off a debt in kind or by labor. After a few years of steady development, the Tibet Autonomous Region was formally founded in September 1965.