BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The China Development Bank (CDB), a major policy bank in the country, has stepped up loan support for urban village renovation projects nationwide.

As of Thursday, the bank had issued 61.4 billion yuan (about 8.65 billion U.S. dollars) of special loans to 271 projects in 33 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan, data from the bank showed.

These projects had benefited about 360,000 households and had supported the construction of 695,000 housing units for people displaced by urban transformation, the CDB said.

The bank added that it issued the first batch of such loans on Jan. 30 this year, which amounted to 9.08 billion yuan.

The central economic work conference, which was held in December last year and set the country's economic policy priorities for 2024, underlined efforts to advance the construction of affordable housing and public infrastructure for both normal and emergency use, as well as urban village renovation.