China allocates USD 4.5 bln to renovate old houses in Beijing

China has allocated a whopping USD 4.5 billion to renovate substandard urban houses in Beijing this year as part of a plan to make the capital a world class city.
A budgetof 30.8 billion yuan (USD 4.5 billion), which is 60 per cent more than last year, has been allocated for housing renovation.
Around 36,000 homes in pockets of dilapidated areas, including four traditional hutongs around the tourist site Nanluoguxiang, will be targeted this year, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.
According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the renovation is part of Beijing's efforts to build a world-class city to live in.

The campaign will create more green space and improve public facilities in the urban districts.
China aims to complete renovation of rundown urban areas and dilapidated housing by 2020, to provide low-income urban residents with affordable housing.
The government had rebuilt six million homes last year and aims to renovate the same number this year.