China recovers 2.7 bln yuan in embezzled housing funds

BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- About 2.7 billion yuan (428.57 million U.S. dollars) in embezzled affordable housing funds have been recovered, the National Audit Office (NAO) said Wednesday.

In June, the NAO reported that 2.96 billion yuan in funding allocated for the construction of government-subsidized houses for low-income earners was embezzled in 2011, according to a statement on the NAO's website.

The government has accelerated the construction of affordable housing in recent years as part of broader efforts to control property prices amid widespread complaints about high housing costs.

The government has vowed to build 36 million affordable housing units during the 2011-2015 period to meet demand from low-income families.

Seven million units were built in 2012 and 6 million units are planned to be built this year.

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