Ready for a facelift: An old residential area in Hohhot, scheduled to get a revamp earlier this year. [Photo/Hohhot Daily] 

Renovation work on 392 old residential areas in Hohhot – capital city of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region – has all been completed to plan and on schedule, according to local media reports. 

The residential areas cover 5.3 million square meters in Xincheng district, Huimin district, Yuquan district, Saihan district and in other counties and banners under Hohhot's administration. 

The renovations included roof work, road and infrastructure repairs. They also included upgrades to water supplies, drainage, gas supplies, heating pipe networks, waterproofing and streetlights. 

The total cost came in at 1.8 billion yuan ($258 million). 

This old community in Hohhot does not have an access control system. [Photo/Hohhot Daily] 

According to the city's housing and urban-rural development bureau, from 2011 to 2020, Hohhot carried out a comprehensive renovation of 1,993 old residential communities, which effectively improved the living conditions of residents. 

From 2011 to 2019, Hohhot spent 5 billion yuan to fully renovate 1,972 old communities covering an area of 27 million sq m, benefiting some 416,900 households and 1.2 million residents. 

In 2023, plans are for Hohhot to apply for central subsidies to support the reconstruction plan of old urban communities in 309 communities with 51,085 households – involving 4.2 million sq m and costing 1.83 billion yuan.