URUMQI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Nineteen provincial-level regions offered a total of 15.18 billion yuan (2.37 billion U.S. dollars) in aid to northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last year, supporting anti-poverty work and improving employment rate in the region.

The 19 provinces or major cities, including the prosperous Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangdong Province, provided both financial and technological support to Xinjiang.

"They have introduced textile, electronic and agricultural processing enterprises to the region last year, which have helped promote employment among ethnic people, maintained stability in the region and increased communication between local residents and inland cities," said Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, when he delivered a government work report at the ongoing local parliamentary session.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 2012, the 19 provinces and cities have invested 72.4 billion yuan to the region and offered more than 500,000 job opportunities to local residents, according to statistics.

The central government decided at the first central work meeting on Xinjiang in 2010 to set up a mechanism under which 19 provinces and major cities, including the prosperous Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangdong Province, provide financial and technological support to Xinjiang.