Shanghai plans another commercial zone in Pudong in three years to match the famed Lujiazui area, the Pudong New Area government announced yesterday.

It will not have Lujiazui's cluster of skyscrapers but will feature a combination of modern and historic buildings.

The site, the Sanlin Expo Functional Zone, is to the south of the Lujiazui area and will cover 82 square kilometers, three quarters of the 2010 World Expo Site.

"We hope the World Expo will bring more business opportunities to this new zone," Jiang Ming, head of the managing committee of the Sanlin zone, said yesterday at a meeting to invite business interest.

Before the inauguration of the six-month world fair in May 2010, the area will be home to luxury hotels, an Expo village for Expo staff, a huge public activity center and parks along the Huangpu River.

It also expects to attract various fashion and cultural studios, commercial outlets and complexes.

At the meeting Pudong officials promised advantageous policies for investors - the Pudong New Area government will subsidize most companies investing in Sanlin according to their profits.

As well as new buildings, the Pudong government has promised to conserve many old residential houses and factories, re-developing them into modern restaurants and hotels.

(Source: www.shanghai.gov.cn )