BEIJING - China's Ministry of Finance said Friday it has added another 33.7 billion yuan (about $5.19 billion) in subsidies to fund public housing projects.

The central government subsidies will be used to support construction of low-rent housing and public rental housing projects, as well as housing projects in run-down areas that will undergo renovation and other related infrastructure projects, the MOF said in a statement on its website.

To date, the MOF has altogether earmarked 43.7 billion yuan for low-income housing projects this year, among which 11.7 billion will be channelled into the low-rent housing program, 21 billion into public rental housing and 11 billion for projects in run-down areas that will undergo renovation in cities, the statement said.

The Chinese government plans to build 10 million units of low-income housing this year in an effort to cool its red-hot property market.