BEIJING — China spent huge amounts of money on renovating shantytowns in the first three quarters of 2018, housing authorities said on Oct 22.

In the January-September period, China spent more than 1.37 trillion yuan ($198 billion) on urban shantytown renovation, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on its website.

China started the rebuilding of 5.34 million shantytown units in the first nine months, accounting for more than 92 percent of this year’s target, the ministry said.

This year’s government work report said the country should start the renovation of 5.8 million shantytown units.

China has decided to speed up shantytown renovation to improve the living conditions of people with housing difficulties, according to a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang earlier this month. The meeting vowed to speed up revamping shantytowns and ancillary facilities, and tighten supervision over construction quality and safety in accordance with the requirements of the government work report.