A low-rent housing system tailored to low-income earners will cover all Chinese cities and towns this year, sources with the Ministry of Construction said on Thursday.

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The sources said that by the end of 2006, 512 Chinese cities had established a low-rent housing system, accounting for 77.9 percent of the nation's total of 657. Money used to build low-rent houses cumulated to 7.08 billion yuan (919.5 million U.S. dollars)nationwide, nearly 50 percent more than the 2005 yearend level.

By the end of last year, 547,000 low-income families had benefited from the low-rent housing system. Of the total, 219,000 households joined the system in 2006, a growth of 66.6 percent from 2005, the sources said.

The system should cover the remaining 145 cities this year, according to a working agenda of the Ministry of Construction.