BEIJING — China’s central government has dispensed in advance part of its 2019 poverty alleviation fund to local governments, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said on Nov 27.

The poverty alleviation fund already allocated to 28 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities totaled 90.98 billion yuan (about $13 billion), accounting for 86 percent recorded last year, according to the MOF.

Some 12 billion yuan of the fund will be used to support areas in deep poverty, including Tibet, Xinjiang, and parts of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Gansu provinces.

The ministry also delegated its power to review and approve the use of poverty alleviation funds to county governments, stressing funds should not be used for any projects or tasks unrelated to poverty reduction.

In 2015, the Chinese government set a goal of eradicating absolute poverty by 2020.

As of October 2018, China has seen 153 counties officially removed from the country’s list of impoverished areas, with the documented people in absolute poverty accounting for less than 3 percent of local population.