(Photo: Xinhua)

Work has begun on the building of 4.07 million homes in rundown urban areas during the first seven months of the year, official data showed.

This marks a 70-percent completion of the annual target with an investment of over 990 billion yuan (about $143.6 billion), according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

China will launch a new three-year renovation plan to address housing in rundown urban areas, with 5.8 million units to be constructed this year, according to this year's government work report.

People's housing needs will be better addressed this year, read the report.

In 2017, a total of 6.09 million apartments were built or renovated in shanty towns, while 12.89 million rural people were brought out of poverty and some 285,000 km of rural roads were built or renovated, all beating annual targets.