URUMQI, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region began building 82,300 houses in impoverished areas in the first three months of the year, authorities said Friday.

The region plans to build 300,000 subsidized houses this year. About 210,000 will be for families in extreme poverty, those receiving the minimum living allowances, and households with disabled members.

The rest will be open to other low-income families on application.

To expedite the rural housing construction, the autonomous region has retrained some 56,600 farmers, craftsmen and engineering managers who have been involved in the construction.

Xinjiang is to build enough new houses for all underprivileged households in rural areas. The regional government built 2.1 million such houses from 2011 to 2017.