Residents look over a model of the Sunny Paradise subsidized housing project on Nov 25, 2009. [China Daily]

The municipal government has, in a rare move, ordered a government-subsidized housing project in the city to be torn down because of shoddy construction.

The news made headlines last year for being the first such case, although poor quality is a problem that plagues many subsidized housing projects.

The Sunny Paradise residential complex in the capital's Daxing district includes nine subsidized buildings. A government inspection in August found six of the nine under-construction buildings were built with substandard concrete. The government ordered them demolished.

Two of the three other buildings required reinforcement, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said.

Demolition work was scheduled for completion two months after it began on Oct 9, China Central Television (CCTV) reported in October.

"Seeing the buildings fall made my heart ache," a homebuyer surnamed Han said in the CCTV report.

"Construction began in December 2009, and some buildings have grown to nine stories. They were supposed to be finished this June. But now, I have no idea when I can move in."

The aboveground structures were destroyed while the underground foundations required reinforcement, the Beijing-based Legal Weekly newspaper reported.

A total of 7,933 cubic meters of concrete contained insufficient cement, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced in November.

Officials of the Beijing-based cement provider were administratively detained for their deceptive business practices.