The "three regions" are Tibet, the Tibetan ethnic areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, and the four prefectures in southern Xinjiang (Hotan, Aksu, Kashi and the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture). The "three prefectures" are Liangshan in Sichuan, Nujiang in Yunnan and Linxia in Gansu.

With a high incidence and high intensity of poverty, poor infrastructure, complex causes of poverty, backward development and lack of public services, these places have remained the toughest challenges in China's poverty alleviation campaign.

Thanks to the great efforts made, the three regions and three prefectures saw their impoverished population dropping to 430,000 and poverty headcount ratio to 2 percent by the end of 2019.