China to spend more on affordable housing

China plans to spend 115.8 billion yuan ($18.8 billion) on affordable housing this year.

The special fund will be spent on renovation of low-rent housing, public rental apartments and shanty towns, Xinhua reported Sunday. This is an increase of 14.3 percent over last year.

Subsidized housing programmes have been high on the government agenda in recent years as skyrocketing home prices in major cities have pushed many people out of the market.