BEIJING - China will invest 15 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) into reconstruction work in quake-hit Yushu this year, the governor of Qinghai province said on Tuesday.

Yushu, a prefecture in Qinghai with a predominantly Tibetan population, was devastated by a 7.1-magnitude quake on April 14, 2010. More than 2,200 people were killed and thousands of homes were destroyed.

The rebuilding work is complicated and arduous given Yushu's geographic location and development level, Luo Huining said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

He added that reconstruction projects concerning people's livelihood would always be made a priority.

Luo said 843 reconstruction projects, or 66 percent of the planned total, had kicked off by November last year, adding that 158 of them have been completed.

Many people have already moved into new homes, as 85.9 percent of the total number of planned residential houses have already been built, Luo said, adding that the reconstruction of the area's Tibetan monasteries has nearly been completed.