A low-rent housing system tailored to low-income earners will
cover all Chinese cities and towns this year, sources with the
Ministry of Construction said on Thursday.
The sources said that by the end of 2006, 512 Chinese cities had
established a low-rent housing system, accounting for 77.9 percent
of the country's total of 657. Money used to build low-rent houses
cumulated to 7.08 billion yuan (US$ 919.5 million) nationwide,
nearly 50 percent more than the 2005 yearend level.
By the end of last year, 547,000 low-income families had
benefited from the low-rent housing system. Of the total, 219,000
households joined the system in 2006, a growth of 66.6 percent from
2005, the sources said.
The system should cover the remaining 145 cities this year,
according to a working agenda of the Ministry of Construction.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2007)