Government-subsidized housing is an important way to improve living conditions for low- and middle-income groups with housing difficulties, Premier Li Keqiang said on Nov 3 during an inspection tour to Anyang, Central China's Henan province.

In Anyang, he visited a 60-year-old man named Zheng Wenyi, whose family of four and three generations once crowded in a 12-square-meter shanty house. Two years ago, they moved into a government-subsidized house of 59 square meters.

"The subsidized house is much better than the house we lived in before," Zheng told the Premier.

The Premier asked about their income and fee burdens for water and electricity.

Food, clothing, housing and transport are people's most basic needs, while housing is the foundation of people's life and work. For low- and middle-income groups with housing difficulties, government-subsidized housing is an important way to improve their living conditions, Premier Li said.

The construction of government-subsidized housing cannot only improve people's livelihood, but also promote development. Thus, it is necessary to ensure both quality and quantity of government-subsidized houses and to distribute them in an open and transparent way, he added.

"We must ensure people with housing difficulties live with satisfaction," the Premier said.