THE Pudong New Area plans to build more shopping areas around the sites of Disneyland and the jumbo jet assembly base to tap the expected huge volume of visitors and workers who will flock there.

By 2015, Pudong's commercial development will center on the district's southern area, or the former Nanhui District, where the two projects are located, government officials said yesterday.

Pudong aims to add more than 3.5 square kilometers of commercial facilities over five years, including a 130,500-square-meter area near the Disneyland theme park. Pudong aims to raise by 20 percent annually the sales of retailers to 1.59 trillion yuan (US$251.5 billion) by 2015.

Most of the planned shopping malls in the southern area will be built in eight towns, including Xinchang Town, Huinan Town and Zhoupu Town, which are close to the Disneyland and the commercial jet base.

The two projects will bring employment and development opportunities to the surrounding towns and communities.

Xinchang, a water town over 1,000 years old and where director Ang Lee filmed scenes for "Lust, Caution," plans to build a complex comprising hotels and shopping malls.

Source:shanghaidaily.com