BEIJING, July 29 -- China started the renovation of 42,600 old urban residential communities across the country in the first half of the year, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

China will start the renovation of 53,000 old urban residential communities this year in an effort to make cities more livable, the ministry said.

The renovation projects in the first six months covered 80.4 percent of the old urban residential communities planned to be renovated in China in 2023, benefiting 7.42 million households, according to the ministry.

More than 95 percent of such communities in Guizhou, Hebei, Hubei, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and six other provincial-level regions began renovation work during the first six months.