BEIJING - China has thus far invested a total of 389.5 billion yuan ($61.66 billion) in the construction of affordable housing projects, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said Thursday.

In the first five months of the year, local authorities began construction on 3.46 million government-subsidized affordable housing units, the ministry said.

To date, 2.06 million affordable housing units have been built, nearly half of the 5-million-unit target set by the government for the end of 2012, according to the ministry.

The government plans to start construction on at least 7 million units in 2012, the ministry said. Construction on 10 million units began last year.

A spokesman for the ministry said the central government will help relieve local governments' financing pressure for affordable housing projects with more fiscal subsidies.

China has vowed to build 36 million affordable housing units during the 2011-2015 period in a bid to meet the demands of low-income families and cool the property market.