China starts construction on 5.8 mln low-income housing units

 BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- China started building 5.8 million low-income housing units in the first seven months of this year, the Ministry¹ of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said Friday.

Construction on 3.6 million affordable² homes has been basically completed in the period, the ministry said in a brief statement on its website.

The government vowed³ to start construction on more than 7 million low-income housing units this year, part of its five-year plan to build 36 million such units by 2015.

The government has stepped up its efforts in the construction of affordable housing in recent years, aiming to cool the country's runaway⁴ property prices.

According an official with the ministry, the country also broke ground on 4.35 million low-rent apartments for rent by urban low-income households, and 3.21 million apartments for rent by urban middle-income families, new employees and migrant workers with stable jobs from 2009 to 2011.

China has vowed to build 36 million affordable housing units during the 2011-2015 period to meet the demand from low-income families. In 2011, it started construction on 10 million units.

In June, 25 out of a statistical⁵ pool of 70 major cities recorded higher new home prices than in the previous month, while 21 cities saw drops in new home prices, according to official data.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

3 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

4 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

5 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。