国内英语新闻:Beijing to transform housing for 35,000 families

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will transform its run-down neighborhoods to benefit 35,000 families in 2016, authorities said Tuesday.

The task will be carried out mainly in the capital's districts of Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Fengtai and Shijingshan, where families will be relocated or see their homes renovated. Other work will be conducted in the suburbs, according to the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office.

In January alone, Beijing has spent about 1 billion yuan (153 million U.S. dollars) on renovations, with 2,893 households having their homes renovated or moving into new ones.

Over the past four years, more than 20 million units of affordable housing were built across the country, and 12 million are under construction, with supportive funds for building these houses reaching 710 billion yuan.