BEIJING, Dec. 2 -- China has initiated the renovation of about 52,800 old urban residential communities in the first 10 months of this year, as the country ramps up efforts to improve people's living conditions, official data showed.

These renovation projects are expected to benefit a total of 8.7 million households, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The ministry said the renovation projects put into operation in the first 10 months accounted for 99.6 percent of the country's annual target of renovating 53,000 old urban residential communities in 2023.

As of the end of October, 24 provincial-level regions, including Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hubei and Jiangsu, have started all their community renovation projects as planned.