"We have finished our yearly relocation plan three months ahead of the schedule," Wu said.

Statistics show that 8.63 million square metres of buildings were dismantled for rebuilding by the end of September, accounting for 115 per cent of the yearly plan.

And 160,296 households have moved out of the shabby shantytowns.

At present, the renovation and rebuilding project covers about 11.7 million square metres of construction area, including 5.65 million square metres of new buildings, which will house more than half of the relocated households.

"Considering most of the residents in shantytowns have financial difficulties, governments have formulated a series of favourable policies, ranging from taxes, employment and social security, in order to help extend the service chain of social care and reduce costs of moving into new residences," Wu said.

Accordingly, the relocated households are entitled to in-time fund compensation.

Those who are covered in the minimum-security system have access to a low-rent housing system.

To ensure smooth operation of the shantytown renovation plan, authorities have arranged for multi-funding channels, Wu said.

The provincial government has set up a special fund totalling 250 million yuan (US$31.25 million) to provide financial aid to poor families.

Meanwhile, 5 billion yuan (US$625 million) of soft loans and 800 million yuan (US$100 million) of short-term loans provided by banks are another financial guarantee facilitating relocation.

More importantly, the authorities have made it clear that all work should comply with related laws and regulations to ensure the interest of the people.

To this end, governments have improved transparency of administrative procedures.

The information related to the interest of relocated residents, including dismantled building areas, revaluation criteria, relocation places and areas, are all posted to the public.

"Accelerating construction of new buildings is one of our major concerns," Wu said, adding that the authorities plan to strengthen management in terms of the quality and safety of the construction projects.

According to Wu, efficient use of energy is an outstanding feature in the newly established buildings targeted at relocated households.

(China Daily 11/23/2006 page7)