By Palden Nyima and Daqiong in Lhasa, Tibet

Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region invested more than 11.7 billion yuan ($1.67 billion) in the construction of national environmental safety barriers in 2019, China Tibet News reported on Monday.

There was 20 percent growth in investment in environmental protection last year, with 99 percent of the days in 2019 classified as "good" in terms of air quality in the region's cities and prefectures, and the region's surface water quality was 100 percent up to the national standard in 2019.

In recent years, more than 45 percent of the region has been listed under the strictest environmental supervision. Seventeen counties, 213 towns and 2,373 villages have been designated as key areas for better protection.

As for reforestation, more than 86,600 hectares of forest coverage was added, and 4,058 people moved out of extremely high altitude areas last year. And 9.77 billion yuan was spent on various types of environmental compensation and subsidies in 2019.