URUMQI, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Huafu Fashion Co. Ltd., the world's largest supplier of melange yarn, will invest in 100 poor villages in southern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as part of three-year poverty-relief plan.

Based in east China's Zhejiang Province, Huafu plans to invest a total of 100 million yuan (around 15 million U.S. dollars) in 100 poverty-stricken villages in developing industries to boost employment over the following three years.

Sun Weiting, chairman of the company, said that Huafu would open small factories in the villages, to attract laborers and help poor residents escape poverty.

On Saturday, the construction of a textile commodity center started. Invested by Huafu, the center will include 10 manufacturing bases and 60 small village plants in Xinjiang.

In the future, Huafu will provide raw materials and equipment, and organize residents to work in socks and garment factories in their villages. The company aims to offer job opportunities for 15,000 local residents.

Four regions in southern Xinjiang -- Aksu, Kashgar, Hotan, and the Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture of Kizilsu -- are among the poorest areas in China. They had more than 1.6 million people living under the poverty line by the end of 2017.

As China aims to eliminate poverty by 2020, Xijiang is carrying out a three-year poverty-relief plan, which will enable 409,000 residents to get out of poverty this year.

A program known as "pairing assistance" has allowed other provinces and municipalities to offer financial and personnel support to Xinjiang, building new infrastructure and funding local industry.

Zhejiang has been paired with Aksu under the program.

Forty-six companies from Zhejiang, mostly in the textiles and garment industry, have built small plants in Aksu villages in the first half of this year, offering nearly 4,000 jobs and increasing incomes.