BEIJING -- China is approaching its target of starting construction on 10 million affordable housing units this year, part of the government's efforts to stabilize runaway property prices.

China had started building 9.86 million units of affordable housing by the end of September, or 98 percent of the total amount planned for this year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said in a statement on its website Monday.

Construction of 1.18 million such houses commenced in September, the statement said.

Fourteen provinces and municipalities, including Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Shandong, Beijing and Chongqing, and Ningxia Hui autonomous region, had exceeded their full-year targets, the statement said.

The government vowed to start construction on 10 million units of affordable housing this year, part of its five-year plan to build 36 million units by 2015 in an effort to give more low-income households access to housing.

Premier Wen Jiabao said in July that construction on the planned 10 million affordable housing units this year should begin before the end of November.