BEIJING, Jan. 24  -- The Chinese government is committed to extending the low-rent housing system to cover medium-and low-income families across the country this year, Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao said Tuesday.

All cities and counties should be covered by the system by the end of 2007, Wang said at the national construction work conference.

His announcement comes amid government efforts to curb runaway housing prices.

No exact figures were given about the low-rent houses to be built in the year.

Low income families had limited access to affordable housing as local governments relied excessively on the highly lucrative property industry for fiscal revenue, he said.

A report released by the China Society for Urban Studies showed China has 1.56 million urban families with no access to adequate affordable housing, most of whom still live in overcrowded and dilapidated homes.

He urged developers to ensure 70 percent of new housing comprised small-and medium-sized homes under 90 square meters, adding it would be a top priority for the year.

All new houses should be built in line with environmental and energy standards to ensure water use and waste disposal efficiency, he said.

Low-rent apartments are essential to China's housing security system. They are either built or commissioned by the government and provided to poor urban families at discounted rents.

The latest official figures show that the mechanism has covered 291 cities at or above prefecture level as of Dec. 20, 2006.

Prices of new homes in 70 large-and medium-sized cities in China jumped 6.3 percent in December last year from a year earlier.