BEIJING -- China has almost met its annual targets for construction of affordable houses, latest data has showed.

By the end of September, the country had started construction on 7.2 million affordable housing units, slightly above the seven million target set for the whole year, while 4.7 million had been basically completed, accounting for 98 percent of the annual target, according to a statement from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Altogether, 1.07 trillion yuan ($174 billion) has been invested in the program this year, the ministry said.

Approved in 1999, the program is designed to provide cheaper housing to low-income families who have been edged out by runaway real estate prices.

The government work report released earlier this year set the target of beginning construction of more than seven million houses, 4.7 million of them for people living in shanty shelters.

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