Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to purchase its first medical helicopter to serve its health emergency needs, a local health official said on Monday.

Xinjiang plans to allocate one medical helicopter to a general hospital with strong emergency rescue resources in the regional capital of Urumqi in 2012, said Yang Bo, director of the emergency management office with the regional health bureau of Xinjiang.

The chosen hospital will be developed as the center of an aviation medical first aid network, with sub-centers in Xinjiang's northern and southern regions completing the set-up.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region covers a massive land area of 1.66 million square km, about one-sixth of China's total.

In 2011, Xinjiang reported 76 cases of public health emergencies, including six major ones.