BEIJING — China is making steady progress in fulfilling its annual housing renovation target for rundown urban areas, official data showed on Oct 15.

Construction began on 2.74 million homes in shantytowns in the first nine months of this year, or 94.8 percent of the annual target, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The government plans to start renovation on 2.89 million homes in dilapidated urban areas in 2019.

During the January-September period, more than 940 billion yuan (about $133 billion) was invested in the renovation projects, according to the ministry.

Shantytown transformation has been a priority for the government in recent years. China aims to renovate 15 million dilapidated homes from 2018 to 2020 to speed up its urbanization drive and improve people's livelihood.