BEIJING — China has promoted the renovation of old residential communities this year as part of efforts to improve living conditions in old urban residential areas.

In the first eight months of the year, the country initiated the rebuilding and renovation of 47,300 old urban residential communities, official data shows.

The figure accounts for 87.7 percent of China's annual target, 9.5 percentage points higher than the figure at the end of July.

The transformation of shantytowns has been a priority for the government in recent years. China aims to renovate 53,000 dilapidated homes in 2021 to accelerate its urbanization drive and improve people's livelihoods, according to this year's Government Work Report.