China to step up funding for low-income housing

China's Ministry of Finance has announced the implementation of measures to shore up low-income housing programs this year. The steps include requiring local governments to allocate enough money through budgetary spending. And for developers, the ministry says local governments will need to provide cheap loan subsidisesto help them ease financing pressure.

However, no specific amount of subsidies has been announced so far. Meanwhile, the ministry says local governments should continue their policy of setting aside no less than 10 percent of land sales proceeds to affordable housing projects. And the Ministry of Finance added, the central government will also strictly supervise the low-income housing funds from misuse.