Major funding for ambitious plan to renew city's old houses

Beijing - The capital plans to spend more than 15 billion yuan ($2.32 billion) on a program to renovate old houses as part of major efforts to achieve its ambitious goal of providing more comfortable and affordable housing for residents.

As many as 40 million square meters of old buildings in the city will be targeted in the upcoming renovation works, which will improve the anti-earthquake and energy-efficient capabilities of old houses, the city's housing and urban-rural development commission said at a news conference on Monday.

The municipal government will spend more than 15 billion yuan on the five-year renovation project, which will begin next month, according to the announcement.