Shenzhen has supplied and allocated 34,000 government-subsidized apartments thus far this year, and plans to complete the task of supplying and allocating a total of 65,000 units by the end of the year, according to the city’s housing and construction bureau.

The city is gearing up to put in place a housing system that ensures supplies through multiple sources, provides housing support through multiple channels, and encourages both housing purchases and renting, in a bid to meet the housing needs of new dwellers and young people.

Shenzhen has recently made tweaks to its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for housing development, with the original goal of building and acquiring 540,000 government-subsidized apartments adjusted to no less than 740,000 units, marking a substantial increase of 200,000 units, all of which will be dedicated to affordable rental housing, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

At present, the city is steadily pressing ahead with its housing security efforts. While having supplied and allocated 34,000 government-subsidized apartments thus far, it has also reached its annual target by distributing housing rental subsidies to 891 households that receive subsistence allowances, 330 more than the original goal.

To better meet people’s housing needs, Shenzhen has accelerated the development of government-subsidized housing through multiple channels, such as utilizing the land owned by enterprises and public institutions.

The renovation project of the Yantian Substation has recently become the first government-subsidized housing project in Shenzhen to introduce mobile power substations. Through spatial composite utilization, the project not only expands the original substation’s power supply, but also provides high-quality rental housing units for the area. After completion, it can provide 750 government-subsidized apartments, according to the Daily report.

According to its plan, efforts will be made to start at least 20 government-subsidized rental housing projects that utilize the land owned by enterprises and public institutions in 2023. The projects are expected to provide 30,000 housing units in the future.

Additionally, Shenzhen has rolled out new housing security and provident fund withdrawal policies in recent years.

The city has issued four measures regarding public rental housing, government-subsidized rental housing, shared ownership housing, as well as the planning and construction of government-subsidized housing, respectively. These four measures, which came into force Aug. 1, aim to ensure that residents with different housing requirements have access to housing.

Meanwhile, Shenzhen has again optimized the withdrawal of housing provident funds for rental purposes, allowing employees to withdraw provident funds in more flexible ways.