URUMQI - The Chinese government has allocated 130 million yuan ($20.9 million) in funding to boost e-commerce development in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The special fund will be given to seven e-business demonstration counties, including Aksu county and Minfeng county, the regional financial department announced on Sunday.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce have allocated a total of 2 billion yuan to 200 counties chosen from China's central and western provinces as demonstration areas for piloting rural e-commerce earlier this year.

The fund will be used to support the construction of e-commerce service centers in counties and villages, the development of logistics systems for e-commerce, and to help train local officials, enterprises and farmers on the basics of e-commerce.