The per capita house area of Beijing's urban residents has reached 20.1 square meters in 2006, while the figure for rural residents is 39.1 square meters, officials with Beijing Construction Committee said on Thursday.

Living conditions of Beijing's residents has greatly improved in recent years, so has the standard of of the local people's living quality, said Sui Zhenjiang, director of the municipal construction committee.

Take the period of "the tenth five year plan (2001-2005)" for example, during the five years, Beijing has completed a total of 173 million-square meter floor area of buildings, including 119 million-square meter floor area of residential buildings.

The figure is twice the amount compared to "the ninth five year plan (1996-2000)", said Sui

Five years ago, per capita residential floor-occupation was about 10 square meters in Beijing's urban districts.

(Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2007)