BEIJING -- The municipal government of Beijing plans to invest about 1 billion yuan (around $153 million) in funds this year to help improve education in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The capital city will implement more than 60 projects to improve the education conditions and advance the construction of the first university for undergraduate studies in Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture.

Beijing invested more than 2 billion yuan in funds to assist Xinjiang's education sector during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), as part of a pairing assistance program for Xinjiang's development since 1997. During the period, more than 200 projects have been implemented.