Twenty volunteers left Shanghai for northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Wednesday to assist in local development.

The Shanghai volunteers, with an average age of 63, are skilled in medical treatment, education and psychological consultation, according to the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.

They will stay at 10 working units in Kashgar, Yecheng, Shache and Bachu counties, as well as Karamay City, for more than two months, providing assistance for local hospitals, disease control and prevention centers, child welfare institutes and schools, the bureau said.