Government boosts spending in border areas  

中国加大力度扶持边境贫困县 兴边富民行动显成效

全国兴边富民行动座谈会14日在新疆西部城市伊宁市举行。中新社记者获悉，2011和2012两年，中国国家民族事务委员会、中国财政部在少数民族发展资金中安排兴边富民补助资金达24.2亿元人民币，超过前10年的总和。

Yining (CNS) -- Luo Liming, vice-minister of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC), said the government has implemented a plan to bring prosperity to border areas and local residents.

Luo spoke Tuesday at a conference held in Yining, a city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The SEAC and the Ministry of Finance allocated 2.42 billion yuan to border areas during 2011 and 2012, said Li. Projects included infrastructure and other types of construction.

Other government ministries have also prioritized spending in frontier areas. In 2011, the Ministry of Education invested 1.86 billion yuan and the Ministry of Agriculture nearly 80 billion yuan.

The plan issued last year covers 136 frontier counties in 9 provinces and autonomous regions, as well as 58 frontier state farms of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.