Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China will eradicate absolute poverty in 2020 by lifting the remaining 165,800 people from 42,000 households out of poverty and taking 10 counties off the poverty list, according to a press conference on March 12.

The region will continue to promote a series of policies and measures, including poverty alleviation through industries, employment transfer and relocation of people from inhospitable areas, to ensure the employment and stable income of the impoverished group, it said.

According to the conference, the problem of drinking water safety for the remaining 15,300 people in Xinjiang will be completely solved in the first half of this year.

The region will continuously promote free annual health check-ups for all and coordinate all kinds of medical insurance, to guarantee the livelihoods of poverty-stricken residents, it added.

Since 2017, Xinjiang has allocated 2 billion yuan ($286 million) a year for a poverty alleviation and risk prevention fund. An estimated 645,000 people in about 976 poverty-stricken villages and 12 impoverished counties in Xinjiang shook off poverty in 2019.