Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong answers questions at a press conference on rebuilding shantytowns and real estate development on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 15, 2016. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)

BEIJING, March 15 -- A senior housing official said on Tuesday that he was confident that China would achieve this year's renovation target for substandard housing.

The reconstruction target for this year has been set at 6 million housing units, Ni Hong, vice minister of Housing and Urban-rural Development, told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.

The target was stated in the government work report delivered to the national legislature.

Thanks to a subsidy injection from the central government, local governments worked on it a couple of months earlier than planned, Ni said.

Financial support from institutions such as China Development Bank and the Agricultural Development Bank of China also boosted the project, he said.

The State Council initiated the three-year substandard housing renovation plan last year. It aims to rebuild 18 million housing units by 2017. Last year, work on 6.01 million units started, exceeding the target of 5.8 million units.