BEIJING -- China's discipline watchdog is tightening supervision on the construction of affordable housing projects nationwide, which involves billions of government funding.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will send 10 inspection teams to 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in next two weeks, said He Yong, deputy head of CCDI, at a meeting held on Sept 6.

As an effort to cope with soaring housing prices, the government has arranged a total of 170.5 billion yuan to build affordable homes for low-income earners this year.

Inspectors will evaluate the implementation of the central government's policy, check the quality of the housing, and verify the proper use of public money, He said.

They must not overlook any indications of, or related to, malpractice in the housing projects, such as breach of duty, bribery and misuse of government funds, he said.

According to the Ministry of Construction, the country aims to finish the main framework of at least one third of the housing projects nationwide and start the construction of the rest projects by the end of October.

Another major task of the teams is to check the implementation of the government's policy to build irrigation and water conservation facilities in rural areas and reform the management of water resources, He said.

Inspectors are urged to uncover actual problems with these policies and offer suggestions for further improvement, he said.