Ningbo plans to renovate a total of three million square meters of old urban residential communities across the city in 2020, according to a recent government conference.

Ningbo's move echoed the central authorities' initiative to accelerate the renovation of old urban residential communities.

The renovations will prioritize the upgrading of roads, water, electricity, gas and optical fiber facilities. In communities where conditions permit it, elevators will be installed and parking lots built.

The city has pledged to complete renovations on all old urban residential communities by 2022, according to an action plan released in November last year.

More efforts will also be made to speed up the construction of the city's traffic network and environment.

In 2020, the city will construct roughly 15 so-called "beautiful towns" and increase the number to 40 by 2022.

The total output of the construction industry in Ningbo is expected to reach 310 billion yuan ($46.2 billion) this year, with the sector's added value to account for more than five percent of the city's GDP.

The city will press ahead with its three-year action plan to improve the energy efficiency of civil buildings and promote rooftop solar photovoltaic power generation.

Ningbo aims to invest 160 billion yuan in real estate and sell a total of 14 million square meters of commercial housing in 2020.