Aerial photo taken on Jan. 9, 2017 shows view of Zhangqiao, one of the largest shantytowns, and surrounding estate in Hongkou district, east China's Shanghai.(Xinhua/Ding Ting)

China will build 6 million new homes for residents of shantytowns before the end of 2017, said Chen Zhenggao, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, at a news briefing in Beijing on Feb. 23.

The Chinese central government started a three-year project to rebuild urban shantytowns in 2015, aiming to construct a total of 18 million new homes in all. In 2015, construction began on 6.01 million new dwellings, and another 6.06 were started in 2016.

According to Chen, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MHURD) kicked off this year's shantytown transformation work on Jan. 16. The central government has provided 224.3 billion RMB in subsidies for the work in 2017, an increase of 15 billion RMB compared with last year.

China is determined to reconstruct all of its existing shantytowns by 2020. MHURD is working with relevant departments to conduct a thorough investigation and make the planned transformation a reality.