One million temporary homes are being built in Anxian County, Sichuan Province to provide shelter for earthquake survivors. The homes will cover 17 hectares.

Officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, the Beijing Municipal Construction Committee as well as the Beijing Construction Engineering Group attended the groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday.

The Beijing Construction Engineering Group has dispatched experts to take charge of the project.

Ding Chuanbo, Department General Director of Beijing Headquarters for Quake Relief said "The construction crew just arrived yesterday and today we start building. It is a new world record in the history of both relief work and architecture."

Huang Wei, Vice Minister of Housing & Urban-Rural Development said "Our aim is to build one million temporary homes. We will also provide basic facilities including water, electricity, medical care and schooling."

The constructions of 250,000 homes are expected to be completed by the end of June.

(CCTV May 23, 2008)