China houses nearly 40 million families in urban areas

China has provided housing for nearly 40 million families in urban areas by the end of 2014, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said in a press release on Feb 13.

The government achieved this by implementing initiatives concerning public rental housing, resettlement programs during projects of upgrading dilapidated houses — and subsidies to urban low-income families with housing problems.

In a bid to improve the standard of living of its population, China implemented a five-year plan to build 36 million low-income housing units from 2011 to 2015.

By the end of 2014, over 32 million homes have been completed or are under construction.

In 2014, China started construction of 7.4 million low-income housing units in urban areas — and 5.11 million of these units were basically completed by the end of the year.

The ministry also said that approximately 27 million dilapidated houses in rural areas are set to be renovated or rebuilt between this year and 2020.

A total of 23 billion yuan was allocated from the central government in 2014 for 2.66 million poor rural families to renovate or rebuild their homes.