URUMQI — Nineteen Chinese provinces and municipalities provided more than 18.8 billion yuan (about $2.7 billion) of aid funds in 2019 to Northwest Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government, said in his government work report delivered on Jan 6 at the third session of the 13th People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region that last year 1,935 aid projects have been undertaken by the provinces and municipalities to contribute to the region's poverty alleviation, people's wellbeing and economic development.

Zakir added that more than 80 percent of the aid funds have been invested in areas related to people's wellbeing and to regions at and below the county level.

China has been implementing the "pairing assistance" program in Xinjiang since 1997, channeling financial support to Xinjiang from other regions of the country and sending cadres and professionals to work there.

In 2010, a new round of pairing assistance program was launched, involving central and state organs, centrally-administered state-owned enterprises, and 19 provinces and municipalities.

Over the past nine years, Xinjiang has received a total investment of nearly 120 billion yuan.