BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- A total of 237 Chinese cities have started to practice garbage sorting, data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development showed.

In 46 key cities, household garbage classification has covered 77,000 housing estates, or 53.9 percent, and 49 million households, according to the ministry.

Garbage sorting practices have reached over 70 percent of housing estates in 18 cities including Shanghai, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

By the end of 2020, relevant laws, regulations and standard systems for garbage sorting will be established, according to a plan jointly released by the ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission.

Of the 46 key cities, 30 have issued laws or regulations on the classification of household garbage.