URUMQI - Xinjiang in northwest China will continue to invest billions to improve medical services for women and children this year, local authorities said.

The medical budget from the central government is about 250 million yuan (36 million U.S. dollars) for this year, according to the reform and development commission of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The money will be used to build 16 county-level hospitals for women and children and 20 disease prevention centers across Xinjiang, which has a population of over 23 million.

The regional government will also fork out money in the medical field. Including funds from other provinces, this year's total medical investment will be over 11.7 billion yuan (about 1.72 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 58.1 percent year on year, according to the regional government plan.