The Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) has sent inspectors to cities across the country to push local governments to speed up construction of affordable homes for middle- and low-income groups.

At a mobilization meeting over the weekend on the inspection work, Qi Ji, Vice Minister of MOHURD, said the inspection work is aimed to ensure this year's target of building 10 million affordable housing units would be met.

"There's an imbalance in the speed of affordable housing construction across different regions and insufficient funding also remains a major problem," Qi said, adding the central government won't stop its tightening measures on the runaway property market.

He said that local governments could further improve their support for public rental housing.

According to MOHURD, inspectors will carry out field investigations and examine information local governments have made public on the development of affordable housing projects.

The inspections also aim to check whether local governments' annual plans to build affordable homes this year have been actioned.

The MOHURD did not say what kind of punishment local governments would face if they fail to carry out their affordable housing plans.

To rein in the real estate market, the Chinese central government has adopted a series of tightening measures to guard against speculation, including higher down payments and the implementation of trial property taxes in the cities of Shanghai and Chongqing.

The Chinese central government also has vowed to build 36 million affordable housing units for low-income families over the next five years to stabilize home prices.

The Chinese central government has earmarked 103 billion yuan (15.8 billion U.S. dollars) for subsidies to support the construction of affordable homes by local governments.

Earlier in March, Qi said it would take 1.3 trillion yuan to 1.4 trillion yuan to build 10 million affordable housing units this year. About 800 billion yuan will have to be raised from private sector and individuals who apply for the affordable housing units, while the rest of funds must be raised by governments at all levels.

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