China's poverty relief fund tops 139 billion yuan in 2020

China's 2020 fund for poverty alleviation has added up to 139.6 billion yuan (about $19.7 billion) after the central government dispensed 26.03 billion yuan to local governments recently, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Tuesday.

The fund will mainly be channeled to support areas in deep poverty, such as parts of Tibet autonomous region, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and provinces of Sichuan, Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan.

Meanwhile, the MOF will give more support to regions hard hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, and areas with large amounts of residents relocated from poverty-stricken areas.

The ministry vowed to fast-track the fund allocations and closely monitor the use of the fund.

China aims to eradicate absolute poverty by 2020. As the deadline approaches, the country is focusing on the nation's poorest people, who mainly dwell in deep mountains with adverse natural environments and backward infrastructure, or have special needs.