Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will fully improve the minimum living standard for urban and rural residents and expand the coverage of eligible recipients of monthly allowances in urban areas, representatives of the People's Government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced on July 26.

The new standard was implemented starting on June 1, 2010, and a total of nearly 2.2 million needy people in Xinjiang will benefit from it.

The monthly allowances for each of the current 645,000 eligible urban recipients in Xinjiang will increase by 30 yuan and the monthly allowance for each of the nearly 1.3 million eligible rural recipients will increase by 10 yuan.

According to regulations, some counties and cities in Xinjiang will increase their minimum standard of living level for urban residents and expand the coverage of eligible recipients of monthly allowances. The new minimum standard of living level in all counties and cities in Xinjiang shall be no less than 138 yuan.

After coverage is expanded, the number of eligible urban recipients will increase by 216,000 people, and the monthly allowance for eligible urban and rural recipients will reach 185 yuan and 75 yuan, respectively.