China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Monday that the central government had earmarked the second batch of 6 billion yuan (US$878 million) as special fund for low-rent house building projects across the country this year.

The central government allocated the first batch of 7 billion yuan fund for this purpose in April, thus completing the goal of providing 13 billion yuan of subsidy for this year, the MOF said in a Web site statement.

The move was to help more low-income households nationwide improve their living conditions and boost domestic demand, the ministry said.

Figures released on May 21 by the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, showed that 214,000 low-rent housing units had been built by April since the government launched the 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package last November, with construction on another 650,000 units underway nationwide.

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2009)