Ningbo plans to complete renovations on old urban residential communities across the city. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Ningbo plans to complete renovations on old urban residential communities across the city by 2022, as per a government action plan released on Nov 5.

The move comes shortly after the city was designated as a national pilot city for the renovation of old urban residential areas.

Since last year, Ningbo has spruced up 26 old residential communities with a total area of 1.36 million square meters.

Chen Shoudan, head of the Ningbo municipal bureau of housing and urban-rural development, said that the city is currently mulling a plan to proceed with the renovation work and strives to complete it by 2022.

A total of 568 communities covering 26.59 million square meters in total have been included in the city's three-year plan.

According to Chen, renovated residential communities should meet the standards of quality public infrastructure, clean living environment and well-organized community services.

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

The decision to renovate urban communities was made at an executive meeting of the State Council on June 19.

The renovation work will prioritize the upgrading of roads and water, electricity, gas and optical fiber facilities. In communities where conditions permit it, elevators will be installed and parking lots will be built, according to a statement released after the meeting.

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, as of the end of May, local governments reported a total of 170,000 such communities, which house nearly 100 million residents.